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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 40.9663, -86.1842

Estimated forage here is better than about 38% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (51st percentile) and lowest in spring (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 39th, summer 92nd, fall 22nd)
  • Indiana: 38th percentile (spring 39th, summer 50th, fall 51st)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 22nd, summer 78th, fall 8th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,827 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 9,880 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,876 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,577 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

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.