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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 43.5535, -92.0083

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in spring (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.4 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 45th, summer 93rd, fall 76th)
  • Minnesota: 82nd percentile (spring 53rd, summer 75th, fall 64th)
  • Driftless Area: 99th percentile (spring 31st, summer 94th, fall 95th)

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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 9,012 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 812 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 782 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 184 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 349 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 511 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber

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.