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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 43.9968, -96.3097

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (76th percentile) and lowest in spring (65th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.4 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 56th, summer 91st, fall 84th)
  • Minnesota: 83rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 69th, fall 76th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 48th percentile (spring 87th, summer 20th, 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: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 158 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,283 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 493 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,205 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 267 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra 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 62% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.