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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 43.4246, -97.8086

Estimated forage here is better than about 71% 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 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 60th, summer 90th, fall 61st)
  • South Dakota: 71st percentile (spring 97th, summer 65th, fall 15th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 23rd percentile (spring 95th, summer 17th, 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: Mar 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 809 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 577 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 163 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 295 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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