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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.

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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 43.9496, -95.6468

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (79th percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 31st, summer 94th, fall 72nd)
  • Minnesota: 80th percentile (spring 36th, summer 79th, fall 58th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 42nd percentile (spring 64th, summer 35th, fall 94th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — 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 2,243 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 7,291 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 444 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 501 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,059 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,211 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – 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), Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.