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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 43.5060, -94.0898

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.48 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 41st, summer 97th, fall 54th)
  • Minnesota: 98th percentile (spring 48th, summer 92nd, fall 31st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 97th percentile (spring 76th, summer 67th, fall 73rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,869 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 14,802 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7,007 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 231 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 280 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,337 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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