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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 48.7134, -94.5924

Estimated forage here is better than about 57% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.11 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 44th, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • Minnesota: 57th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 53rd, fall 94th)
  • Northern Minnesota Wetlands: 92nd percentile (spring 44th, summer 94th, fall 95th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Sunflower, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.