Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 46.9350, -98.4943

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 2.0 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 41st, summer 93rd, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 65th percentile (spring 87th, summer 58th, fall 75th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 55th percentile (spring 77th, summer 36th, fall 77th)

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 Sep 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,420 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 744 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 258 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,137 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,485 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.