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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 47.4687, -99.7083

Estimated forage here is better than about 58% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 32nd, summer 92nd, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 58th percentile (spring 70th, summer 53rd, fall 84th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 87th percentile (spring 69th, summer 82nd, fall 96th)

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: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,579 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,693 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 312 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 186 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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