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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 44.7696, -94.1521

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Minnesota. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Minnesota sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 0.9 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.17 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 55th, summer 90th, fall 74th)
  • Minnesota: 70th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 63rd, fall 62nd)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 22nd percentile (spring 86th, summer 14th, fall 96th)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,550 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 3,606 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 5,939 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,607 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,025 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 981 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 77% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.