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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 44.2340, -96.4803

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring and summer (79th percentile) and lowest in fall (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 1.03 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 42nd, summer 94th, fall 83rd)
  • South Dakota: 84th percentile (spring 79th, summer 79th, fall 45th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 48th percentile (spring 78th, summer 45th, fall 26th)

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 2,351 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 392 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 445 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 752 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 700 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 331 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.
  • No mapped water within a mile. Plan to provide water. Small ponds, ditches, troughs and pools don't show on these maps.

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.