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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 44.6424, -96.9001

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (79th percentile) and lowest in spring (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.11 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 27th, summer 94th, fall 89th)
  • South Dakota: 79th percentile (spring 29th, summer 79th, fall 63rd)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 37th percentile (spring 56th, summer 46th, fall 36th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across South Dakota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,872 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,806 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,152 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 326 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 171 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 370 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late 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; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.