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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 45.5247, -102.4654

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.24 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 48th, summer 86th, fall 97th)
  • South Dakota: 60th percentile (spring 89th, summer 55th, fall 98th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 95th percentile (spring 97th, summer 92nd, fall 94th)

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 Sep 15 — Sunflower, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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