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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 41.7489, -85.7119

Estimated forage here is better than about 16% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 48th, summer 88th, fall 48th)
  • Indiana: 16th percentile (spring 49th, summer 31st, fall 87th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 33rd percentile (spring 36th, summer 51st, fall 33rd)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,007 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 777 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,074 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.