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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 45.6710, -98.0173

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.2 mi S). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.3 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 45th, summer 91st, fall 85th)
  • South Dakota: 69th percentile (spring 86th, summer 66th, fall 50th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 21st percentile (spring 84th, summer 20th, fall 30th)

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: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 6,552 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 247 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 882 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 325 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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.