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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 47.7587, -90.3429

Estimated forage here is better than about 22% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in spring (53rd percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.58 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 45th, summer 76th, fall 63rd)
  • Minnesota: 22nd percentile (spring 53rd, summer 40th, fall 42nd)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 44th percentile (spring 13th, summer 91st, fall 86th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.