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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 45.5589, -96.5603

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in summer and fall (79th percentile) and lowest in spring (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 15th, summer 94th, fall 88th)
  • Minnesota: 79th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 79th, fall 79th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 30th percentile (spring 30th, summer 46th, fall 33rd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,485 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 703 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 3,339 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,362 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,344 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 231 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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