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 42.5121, -97.9104

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.1 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 45th, summer 86th, fall 78th)
  • Nebraska: 66th percentile (spring 86th, summer 63rd, fall 58th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 3rd percentile (spring 79th, summer 6th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 364 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 660 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,337 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 896 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 653 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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