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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 48.9052, -102.7817

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 37th, summer 93rd, fall 93rd)
  • North Dakota: 56th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 57th, fall 23rd)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 34th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 35th, fall 44th)

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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Canola
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 184 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 442 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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