Honey bee forage in Dakota, Minnesota

When is the honey flow in Dakota?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15, peaking early May (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 (fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Dakota, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 11.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): clovers: white, alsike and red, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), summer-flowering shrubs, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Apples: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early May – late May
• Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Dakota

Mostly: North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland; Open water; North-Central Interior Floodplain Forest.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.16 mi NW; pond, lake or river 0.21 mi NE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

How Dakota ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 59% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Dresbach 2 mi · La Crescent 6 mi · Pickwick 8 mi · Hokah 10 mi · Homer 12 mi · Brownsville 15 mi

All towns in Minnesota · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Dakota (43.9115, -91.3614); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.