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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 43.9834, -96.8132

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 44th, summer 93rd, fall 76th)
  • South Dakota: 81st percentile (spring 85th, summer 77th, fall 31st)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 41st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 39th, fall 19th)

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 5,321 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,151 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 251 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 232 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 610 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 154 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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

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.