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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 41.2396, -83.6459

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in summer (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 46th, summer 95th, fall 39th)
  • Ohio: 76th percentile (spring 30th, summer 73rd, fall 45th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 63rd, summer 66th, fall 33rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — 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

  • Soybeans: about 8,501 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7,365 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 276 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,003 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,374 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, 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, Alfalfa; white
  • 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, 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.