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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 45.0689, -99.7639

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (76th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 38th, summer 93rd, fall 75th)
  • South Dakota: 76th percentile (spring 71st, summer 76th, fall 30th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 86th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 85th, fall 37th)

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)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Sunflower, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 304 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – 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, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Sunflower, Soybeans, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Soybeans, Alfalfa; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Sunflower, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; light 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.