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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 40.6257, -96.6288

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 91st, fall 56th)
  • Nebraska: 84th percentile (spring 98th, summer 72nd, fall 36th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 35th percentile (spring 91st, summer 17th, fall 76th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,079 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,583 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 279 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 267 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 296 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,512 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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