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 41.9818, -98.0813

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in fall (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.16 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 43rd, summer 94th, fall 37th)
  • Nebraska: 89th percentile (spring 80th, summer 83rd, fall 24th)
  • Central Great Plains: 97th percentile (spring 35th, summer 94th, fall 36th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 16,296 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,379 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 897 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 211 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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