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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 46.1851, -96.4880

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.3 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 21st, summer 93rd, fall 88th)
  • Minnesota: 78th percentile (spring 28th, summer 77th, fall 79th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 51st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 60th, fall 12th)

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 4,803 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 564 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 651 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 474 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 137 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,718 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.