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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 47.5003, -97.3683

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (69th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.29 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 41st, summer 95th, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 79th percentile (spring 88th, summer 69th, fall 87th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 88th percentile (spring 84th, summer 71st, fall 82nd)

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 3,827 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 5,408 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 820 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 2,107 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 275 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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