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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 47.7743, -97.1026

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 35th, summer 90th, fall 100th)
  • North Dakota: 53rd percentile (spring 78th, summer 41st, fall 98th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 53rd percentile (spring 78th, summer 28th, fall 98th)

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 16 to Sep 15 — Dry Beans, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 190 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 227 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,762 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 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, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; water white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dry Beans, Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; water white
  • Whole season (March to November): Dry Beans, Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 37% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.