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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 46.6639, -96.8203

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in fall (57th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.8 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 31st, summer 96th, fall 98th)
  • North Dakota: 76th percentile (spring 66th, summer 75th, fall 57th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 84th percentile (spring 75th, summer 79th, fall 44th)

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, 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 2,047 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,670 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 318 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 4,506 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,456 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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