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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 44.0991, -102.8387

Estimated forage here is better than about 47% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.14 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 44th, summer 77th, fall 82nd)
  • South Dakota: 47th percentile (spring 85th, summer 45th, fall 44th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 83rd percentile (spring 95th, summer 81st, fall 25th)

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), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Millet: about 203 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sunflower, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, 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.