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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 48.4967, -97.8617

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 45th, summer 91st, fall 100th)
  • North Dakota: 66th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 51st, fall 93rd)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 71st percentile (spring 88th, summer 44th, fall 90th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Canola, Soybeans, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 290 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Canola: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Dry beans: about 237 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Canola: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

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.