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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 46.9777, -96.2584

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in spring (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.15 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 91st, fall 97th)
  • Minnesota: 73rd percentile (spring 37th, summer 68th, fall 90th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 42nd percentile (spring 76th, summer 41st, fall 38th)

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 2,380 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,143 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,459 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,476 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 298 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, 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), 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

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.