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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.

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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 45.5805, -99.0109

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (84th percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 27th, summer 95th, fall 90th)
  • South Dakota: 86th percentile (spring 28th, summer 84th, fall 69th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 89th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 89th, fall 65th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across South Dakota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,716 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,788 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 290 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 2,336 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 834 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 318 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

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