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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 44.3968, -103.6104

Estimated forage here is better than about 6% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (53rd percentile) and lowest in fall (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 3.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 23rd percentile (spring 34th, summer 56th, fall 63rd)
  • South Dakota: 6th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 21st, fall 16th)
  • Middle Rockies: 43rd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 30th, fall 8th)

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: May 1 to Aug 15 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Sweet clovers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Millet: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Smooth sumac, Snowberry; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Sweet clovers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Sweet clovers; 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.