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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 47.1440, -96.9706

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.26 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 27th, summer 97th, fall 97th)
  • North Dakota: 81st percentile (spring 59th, summer 82nd, fall 52nd)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 90th percentile (spring 71st, summer 89th, fall 39th)

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, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,071 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 4,994 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 3,124 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, 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; extra 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

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.