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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 42.8060, -102.2054

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (60th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 51st, summer 85th, fall 90th)
  • Nebraska: 65th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 60th, fall 78th)
  • High Plains: 96th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 92nd, fall 92nd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 320 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 178 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 207 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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