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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 46.0350, -96.1000

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in spring (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.43 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 20th, summer 93rd, fall 88th)
  • Minnesota: 76th percentile (spring 27th, summer 76th, fall 79th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 48th percentile (spring 61st, summer 57th, fall 13th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,880 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,347 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 812 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 282 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 763 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 194 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, 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), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.