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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 44.0911, -96.1974

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.14 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 21st, summer 92nd, fall 82nd)
  • Minnesota: 69th percentile (spring 28th, summer 72nd, fall 73rd)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 16th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 29th, fall 25th)

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, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2,393 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 195 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 784 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 358 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 249 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, 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), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.