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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 47.4984, -97.3254

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.8 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.13 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 47th, summer 95th, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 81st percentile (spring 93rd, summer 70th, fall 83rd)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 90th percentile (spring 89th, summer 72nd, fall 76th)

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 Sep 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,089 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 4,933 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 755 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 280 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 237 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 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; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.