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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 41.5006, -83.7367

Estimated forage here is better than about 58% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (91st percentile) and lowest in spring (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 66th, summer 90th, fall 61st)
  • Ohio: 58th percentile (spring 45th, summer 58th, fall 91st)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 49th percentile (spring 84th, summer 38th, fall 49th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 636 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 890 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,350 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,101 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 144 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 371 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • 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, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 59% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.