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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 42.8381, -97.4395

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 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 43rd, summer 88th, fall 52nd)
  • Nebraska: 65th percentile (spring 80th, summer 65th, fall 33rd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 3rd percentile (spring 77th, summer 8th, 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 15 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 876 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 522 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 461 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early 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

  • 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.