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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 48.5969, -97.6700

Estimated forage here is better than about 32% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (77th percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • North Dakota: 32nd percentile (spring 71st, summer 29th, fall 77th)
  • Lake Agassiz Plain: 12th percentile (spring 76th, summer 10th, fall 68th)

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, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 342 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Dry beans: about 421 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 57% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.