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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 43.3036, -96.5853

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.38 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 61st, summer 92nd, fall 61st)
  • South Dakota: 78th percentile (spring 97th, summer 69th, fall 15th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 36th percentile (spring 96th, summer 26th, fall 9th)

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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,447 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,752 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 931 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,394 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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