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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 45.7237, -97.4154

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (83rd percentile) and lowest in summer (49th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 80th, fall 91st)
  • South Dakota: 51st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 49th, fall 74th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 2nd percentile (spring 81st, summer 2nd, fall 41st)

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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug

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; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Alfalfa, 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.