Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 41.5098, -87.1725

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in spring (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 40th, summer 94th, fall 46th)
  • Indiana: 59th percentile (spring 40th, summer 60th, fall 86th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 40th percentile (spring 74th, summer 33rd, fall 80th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,798 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,189 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,158 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 241 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 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); extra 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra 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.