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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 45.6883, -96.0160

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in spring (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 27th, summer 92nd, fall 89th)
  • Minnesota: 74th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 73rd, fall 80th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 23rd percentile (spring 55th, summer 32nd, fall 35th)

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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 191 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,056 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 579 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 311 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,148 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 354 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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), 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), Dry Beans; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.