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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 40.8888, -86.7361

Estimated forage here is better than about 45% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (85th percentile) and lowest in summer (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 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: 89th percentile (spring 55th, summer 91st, fall 45th)
  • Indiana: 45th percentile (spring 55th, summer 45th, fall 85th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 81st percentile (spring 47th, summer 73rd, fall 29th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,823 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,939 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,896 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4,416 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.