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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 43.6050, -92.8301

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in spring (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.19 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 40th, summer 95th, fall 69th)
  • Minnesota: 92nd percentile (spring 46th, summer 85th, fall 54th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 75th percentile (spring 74th, summer 47th, fall 92nd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,424 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 5,313 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 5,304 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,527 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,272 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,713 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early 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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

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.