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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 43.3706, -96.9857

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.49 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 98th, fall 39th)
  • South Dakota: 97th percentile (spring 44th, summer 96th, fall 4th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 78th percentile (spring 64th, summer 84th, fall 3rd)

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: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 353 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,828 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 713 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,298 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.