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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 42.5361, -99.7034

Estimated forage here is better than about 58% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.33 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 69th percentile (spring 57th, summer 78th, fall 77th)
  • Nebraska: 58th percentile (spring 97th, summer 50th, fall 56th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 88th percentile (spring 99th, summer 82nd, fall 14th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 3,228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 159 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – 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, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; 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.