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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 41.5457, -87.5045

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (100th percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 76th, summer 75th, fall 77th)
  • Indiana: 10th percentile (spring 74th, summer 14th, fall 100th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 5th percentile (spring 95th, summer 4th, fall 96th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Sep 30 — Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 319 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 113 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 97% 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.