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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 44.0106, -96.0970

Estimated forage here is better than about 91% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in spring (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.39 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 22nd, summer 96th, fall 70th)
  • Minnesota: 91st percentile (spring 29th, summer 89th, fall 55th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 70th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 56th, fall 93rd)

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 2,502 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 214 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 911 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 599 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.