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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 45.4492, -99.3343

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in South Dakota. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other South Dakota sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE); corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.14 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 36th, summer 91st, fall 88th)
  • South Dakota: 66th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 66th, fall 59th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 80th percentile (spring 80th, summer 79th, fall 60th)

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
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,605 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 5,877 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,508 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 2,109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,508 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, 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); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.