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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 47.3733, -96.2632

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in spring (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 43rd, summer 91st, fall 98th)
  • Minnesota: 81st percentile (spring 51st, summer 68th, fall 93rd)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 56th percentile (spring 86th, summer 41st, fall 53rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,295 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 797 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 275 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 173 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Buckwheat, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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.