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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 43.1728, -97.0818

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (8th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.37 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 95th, fall 50th)
  • South Dakota: 87th percentile (spring 81st, summer 86th, fall 8th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 55th percentile (spring 80th, summer 61st, fall 5th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,834 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 383 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,017 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 570 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,301 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,042 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.