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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 47.9629, -99.5273

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring and fall (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.35 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 42nd, summer 91st, fall 100th)
  • North Dakota: 62nd percentile (spring 89th, summer 50th, fall 89th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 46th percentile (spring 80th, summer 24th, fall 91st)

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: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,925 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 339 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 597 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,111 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug

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), Canola; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Canola, Dry Beans; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Dry Beans; extra light amber

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.