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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.

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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 40.6581, -86.1460

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 72nd, summer 90th, fall 57th)
  • Indiana: 52nd percentile (spring 71st, summer 39th, fall 94th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 31st percentile (spring 80th, summer 24th, fall 92nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 9,844 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,891 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 352 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,071 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 89% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.