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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 46.9774, -96.8799

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (64th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 41st, summer 99th, fall 98th)
  • North Dakota: 88th percentile (spring 88th, summer 85th, fall 64th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 96th percentile (spring 85th, summer 94th, fall 52nd)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,181 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 764 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,940 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 111 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 655 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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