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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 44.7048, -100.0695

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 45th, summer 99th, fall 59th)
  • South Dakota: 99th percentile (spring 85th, summer 97th, fall 13th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 96th percentile (spring 90th, summer 94th, fall 14th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 801 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 671 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 792 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early 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; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Sunflower, Soybeans; amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Sunflower, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.