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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 43.3198, -98.3449

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 61st, summer 94th, fall 58th)
  • South Dakota: 92nd percentile (spring 97th, summer 79th, fall 12th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 98th, summer 87th, fall 13th)

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: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,173 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,030 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,564 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 373 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 244 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 392 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra 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.