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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 41.5250, -85.3651

Estimated forage here is better than about 34% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 61st, summer 89th, fall 48th)
  • Indiana: 34th percentile (spring 60th, summer 36th, fall 86th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 66th percentile (spring 58th, summer 59th, fall 32nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 756 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 241 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 465 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 184 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 580 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 267 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; 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.