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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 43.9058, -96.6592

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 45th, summer 92nd, fall 78th)
  • South Dakota: 76th percentile (spring 86th, summer 73rd, fall 35th)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 42nd percentile (spring 79th, summer 25th, fall 98th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5,390 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 463 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,710 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 111 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 382 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,290 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.