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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 47.0742, -96.5045

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in spring (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.67 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 10th, summer 91st, fall 84th)
  • Minnesota: 59th percentile (spring 18th, summer 66th, fall 75th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 20th percentile (spring 45th, summer 36th, fall 7th)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 663 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 4,450 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 639 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 491 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,041 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 692 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, 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, Sunflower; amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Sunflower, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.