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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 40.6859, -98.5774

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 24th, summer 95th, fall 14th)
  • Nebraska: 85th percentile (spring 24th, summer 85th, fall 9th)
  • Central Great Plains: 95th percentile (spring 11th, summer 95th, fall 17th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 18,075 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,607 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 257 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 376 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,493 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

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
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.