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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 40.8982, -98.2171

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in fall (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.27 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 41st, summer 88th, fall 32nd)
  • Nebraska: 65th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 66th, fall 21st)
  • Central Great Plains: 81st percentile (spring 30th, summer 82nd, fall 32nd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 15,141 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 282 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 261 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,285 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.