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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 43.6257, -94.9888

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in spring (74th percentile) and lowest in summer and fall (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 90th, fall 74th)
  • Minnesota: 74th percentile (spring 74th, summer 62nd, fall 62nd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 29th percentile (spring 91st, summer 13th, fall 96th)

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

  • Soybeans: about 4,018 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,311 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 4,101 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,628 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,770 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 211 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – 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), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • 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, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 63% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.