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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 44.7173, -96.0506

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 11th, summer 98th, fall 60th)
  • Minnesota: 97th percentile (spring 19th, summer 96th, fall 38th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 91st percentile (spring 33rd, summer 82nd, fall 81st)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — 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 3,170 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 931 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,389 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,798 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,034 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 593 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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