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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 47.8521, -98.7053

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.1 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 49th, summer 85th, fall 98th)
  • North Dakota: 35th percentile (spring 94th, summer 28th, fall 62nd)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 6th percentile (spring 88th, summer 5th, fall 67th)

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 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 183 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; 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, Soybeans, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; 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.