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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 43.8495, -94.6983

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 1.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.32 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 22nd, summer 97th, fall 56th)
  • Minnesota: 95th percentile (spring 28th, summer 94th, fall 34th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 86th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 72nd, fall 77th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Minnesota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 9,198 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,957 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,027 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 501 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 384 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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