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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.

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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 43.1753, -101.7308

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.4 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 48th, summer 86th, fall 77th)
  • South Dakota: 56th percentile (spring 89th, summer 55th, fall 32nd)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 97th, summer 93rd, fall 14th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 216 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 343 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Peas: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun

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), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Sunflower, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Sunflower, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.