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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 48.9167, -95.3294

Estimated forage here is better than about 54% of sites in Minnesota. Against other Minnesota sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 40th, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • Minnesota: 54th percentile (spring 46th, summer 52nd, fall 96th)
  • Northern Minnesota Wetlands: 90th percentile (spring 35th, summer 93rd, fall 97th)

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 16 to Sep 15 — Soybeans, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 210 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late 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): Soybeans, Sunflower, 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, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber

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.