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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 45.4664, -94.3215

Estimated forage here is better than about 41% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (64th percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 54th, summer 82nd, fall 76th)
  • Minnesota: 41st percentile (spring 62nd, summer 47th, fall 64th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 41st percentile (spring 56th, summer 48th, fall 51st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 291 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 218 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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