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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 44.4566, -98.6963

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 92nd, fall 92nd)
  • South Dakota: 95th percentile (spring 99th, summer 70th, fall 78th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 99th, summer 26th, fall 43rd)

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 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 504 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 672 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 178 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 107 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Sunflower, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.