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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 43.8486, -96.3995

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% 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 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 57th, summer 92nd, fall 83rd)
  • Minnesota: 89th percentile (spring 67th, summer 73rd, fall 74th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 65th percentile (spring 88th, summer 25th, fall 99th)

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: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,544 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,826 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 712 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,779 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.