Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 43.5936, -99.6922

Estimated forage here is better than about 57% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (65th percentile) and lowest in fall (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 37th, summer 89th, fall 62nd)
  • South Dakota: 57th percentile (spring 65th, summer 60th, fall 15th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 94th percentile (spring 84th, summer 95th, 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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • 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 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 101 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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