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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 42.9112, -98.8485

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 55th, summer 91st, fall 65th)
  • Nebraska: 82nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 72nd, fall 44th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 83rd percentile (spring 96th, summer 79th, fall 22nd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 373 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 742 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 290 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 172 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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