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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 48.9181, -103.2967

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in North Dakota. Against other North Dakota sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in fall (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 37th, summer 98th, fall 90th)
  • North Dakota: 83rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 82nd, fall 18th)
  • Northern Glaciated Plains: 85th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 83rd, fall 40th)

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, Sunflower
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 610 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 366 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Canola: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 402 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sunflower: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 39% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.