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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.

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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 48.4781, -97.5264

Estimated forage here is better than about 20% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.7 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 67th percentile (spring 5th, summer 80th, fall 100th)
  • North Dakota: 20th percentile (spring 14th, summer 20th, fall 94th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 2nd percentile (spring 34th, summer 4th, fall 92nd)

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 274 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 467 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 81 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 365 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 54% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.