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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 46.9285, -95.2646

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.24 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 74th, fall 95th)
  • Minnesota: 25th percentile (spring 51st, summer 38th, fall 86th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 52nd percentile (spring 12th, summer 86th, fall 99th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Minnesota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 172 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 214 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); water white
  • Whole season (March to November): Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion; white

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.