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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 40.5698, -98.7907

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in summer (84th percentile) and lowest in fall (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.11 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 26th, summer 95th, fall 15th)
  • Nebraska: 84th percentile (spring 27th, summer 84th, fall 11th)
  • Central Great Plains: 95th percentile (spring 13th, summer 95th, fall 19th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Nebraska, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 7,339 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 7,367 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,911 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,771 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,789 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 418 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.