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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 45.9656, -94.1123

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in spring (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 43rd, summer 87th, fall 84th)
  • Minnesota: 53rd percentile (spring 51st, summer 56th, fall 75th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 69th percentile (spring 34th, summer 73rd, fall 74th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 302 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,784 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 149 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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; extra light amber
  • 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.