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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 43.6454, -97.0737

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.27 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 45th, summer 93rd, fall 70th)
  • South Dakota: 81st percentile (spring 86th, summer 77th, fall 23rd)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 40th percentile (spring 84th, summer 40th, fall 14th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,110 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 223 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 835 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,655 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,089 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 332 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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