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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 48.1521, -97.6452

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.28 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 95th, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 76th percentile (spring 71st, summer 70th, fall 80th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 83rd percentile (spring 76th, summer 72nd, fall 72nd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,306 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 5,475 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,534 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sunflower: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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