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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 44.7170, -96.2687

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Minnesota. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Minnesota sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.0 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.25 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 57th, summer 91st, fall 78th)
  • Minnesota: 81st percentile (spring 67th, summer 69th, fall 67th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 44th percentile (spring 88th, summer 19th, fall 98th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,293 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 588 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 311 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 782 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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