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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 what blooms within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more) and when, the gaps in the season, 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.

Forage report for 44.8225, -100.3301

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.14 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 100th percentile (spring 8th, summer 100th, fall 39th)
  • South Dakota: 100th percentile (spring 5th, summer 100th, fall 4th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 100th percentile (spring 10th, summer 100th, fall 3rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jul 1 — Sunflower
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 386 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 348 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,051 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 1,583 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 552 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 230 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early 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, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Sunflower; amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Sunflower, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.