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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 46.6103, -98.3389

Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 37th, summer 93rd, fall 98th)
  • North Dakota: 61st percentile (spring 82nd, summer 58th, fall 59th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 45th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 37th, fall 64th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — 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

  • Soybeans: about 8,042 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 167 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 107 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, 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), Canola; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Canola, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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.