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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 45.1370, -96.2863

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in spring (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.19 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 24th, summer 97th, fall 77th)
  • Minnesota: 95th percentile (spring 30th, summer 91st, fall 65th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 69th percentile (spring 49th, summer 76th, fall 19th)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 6,922 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,527 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,801 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 2,842 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,180 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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