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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 45.6594, -94.6854

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (72nd percentile) and lowest in spring (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.13 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 38th, summer 88th, fall 81st)
  • Minnesota: 53rd percentile (spring 44th, summer 58th, fall 72nd)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 69th percentile (spring 24th, summer 78th, fall 66th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,807 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 334 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,482 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,055 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 558 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 236 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra 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, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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.