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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 42.8109, -97.2514

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 48th, summer 90th, fall 58th)
  • Nebraska: 76th percentile (spring 90th, summer 70th, fall 37th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 15th percentile (spring 81st, summer 15th, fall 80th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 937 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 587 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 859 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 183 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 274 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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