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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 48.6298, -103.1832

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (66th percentile) and lowest in fall (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.19 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 29th, summer 94th, fall 78th)
  • North Dakota: 59th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 66th, fall 6th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 88th percentile (spring 59th, summer 88th, fall 42nd)

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: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Canola
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 361 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 520 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 172 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 199 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 725 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 40% 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.