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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 44.8812, -97.7337

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (95th percentile) and lowest in summer (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.24 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 57th, summer 89th, fall 94th)
  • South Dakota: 70th percentile (spring 95th, summer 62nd, fall 88th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 21st percentile (spring 93rd, summer 12th, fall 47th)

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 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 570 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,646 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 659 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 325 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.