Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 43.6541, -96.2148

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Minnesota. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Minnesota sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.22 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 64th, summer 91st, fall 78th)
  • Minnesota: 84th percentile (spring 76th, summer 67th, fall 67th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 51st percentile (spring 92nd, summer 17th, fall 98th)

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 983 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,765 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,105 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 806 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 2,629 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 223 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 67% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.