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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.

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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 43.8787, -99.6014

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 44th, summer 88th, fall 66th)
  • South Dakota: 59th percentile (spring 85th, summer 59th, fall 20th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 94th percentile (spring 95th, summer 94th, fall 4th)

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 — Sunflower, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 151 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sorghum: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.