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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 47.4593, -96.8205

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (87th percentile) and lowest in spring (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 28th, summer 93rd, fall 95th)
  • Minnesota: 79th percentile (spring 34th, summer 75th, fall 87th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 53rd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 53rd, fall 30th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,183 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 729 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 474 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 179 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, 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.