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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 42.2128, -102.9836

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in summer (64th percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.24 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 38th, summer 87th, fall 73rd)
  • Nebraska: 65th percentile (spring 57th, summer 64th, fall 52nd)
  • High Plains: 95th percentile (spring 26th, summer 95th, fall 70th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2,680 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,364 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing 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.