Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 44.2096, -95.1308

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in spring and fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 44th, summer 93rd, fall 68th)
  • Minnesota: 80th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 75th, fall 52nd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 40th percentile (spring 78th, summer 27th, fall 91st)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 994 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,917 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,167 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 301 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,185 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 317 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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