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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 41.5844, -83.8834

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in spring (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 71st, summer 87th, fall 67th)
  • Ohio: 50th percentile (spring 50th, summer 51st, fall 95th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 37th percentile (spring 88th, summer 27th, fall 58th)

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: May 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,921 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 261 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 307 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,018 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,654 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early 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); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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

  • Heavily developed. About 59% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.