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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 44.9018, -99.0884

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (83rd percentile) and lowest in fall (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 43rd, summer 93rd, fall 73rd)
  • South Dakota: 80th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 77th, fall 27th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 39th percentile (spring 81st, summer 41st, fall 16th)

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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,733 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,333 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 649 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,423 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep

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, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sunflower; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sunflower, 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.