Arcadia Bees
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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 what blooms within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more) and when, the gaps in the season, 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.

Forage report for 43.8442, -103.5174

Estimated forage here is better than about 0% of sites in South Dakota. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other South Dakota sites. Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 5th percentile (spring 2nd, summer 27th, fall 38th)
  • South Dakota: 0th percentile (spring 1st, summer 0th, fall 3rd)
  • Middle Rockies: 1st percentile (spring 22nd, summer 2nd, fall 0th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across South Dakota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Native wildflowers, Native wildflowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Smooth sumac, Sweet clovers
  • Season ends: Oct 31

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Smooth sumac, Snowberry, Sweet clovers, Native wildflowers; amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Sweet clovers, Native wildflowers; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Snowberry, Sweet clovers, Rabbitbrush, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Smooth sumac, Sweet clovers, Native wildflowers; 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.