Honey bee forage in Marmarth, North Dakota

When is the honey flow in Marmarth?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Sep 15, peaking late May (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa)
• Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 15 (fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Marmarth, 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 19.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar), native wildflowers, dandelion; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa, native wildflowers; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa, spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa, native wildflowers; light amber, likely to set over some months

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Alfalfa: about 244 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 5 of the last 5 years)
• Millet: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep (grown 1 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 Marmarth

Mostly: Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie; Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Steppe; Northwestern Great Plains Floodplain Herbaceous.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.06 mi SW; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.15 mi NE.

How Marmarth ranks

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

About 70% 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

Rhame 14 mi · Bowman 27 mi · Golva 30 mi · Amidon 32 mi · Scranton 39 mi · Beach 43 mi

All towns in North Dakota · 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 Marmarth (46.3012, -103.9346); 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.