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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 47.5596, -98.3433

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 88th, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 53rd percentile (spring 98th, summer 36th, fall 78th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 28th percentile (spring 96th, summer 9th, fall 80th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across North Dakota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 567 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 279 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 776 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Alfalfa, Dandelion; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Alfalfa; 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.