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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 43.5891, -98.4381

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.32 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 69th, summer 91st, fall 76th)
  • South Dakota: 87th percentile (spring 99th, summer 68th, fall 31st)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 90th percentile (spring 99th, summer 81st, fall 37th)

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 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 251 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 349 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.