community in Montana
Honey bee forage in Hays, Montana
Estimated forage here is better than about 45% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (52nd percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years).
When is the honey flow in Hays?
- First forage: Apr 16 (willows, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), native wildflowers)
- Main flow: May 16 to Aug 15, peaking early Jul (snowberry, native wildflowers)
- Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 (snowberry, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), spotted and diffuse knapweed)
- Season ends: Oct 31
Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Hays, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 23.
What the honey is made of
- Spring honey (March to June): native wildflowers, smooth sumac, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), snowberry; light amber, likely to set over some months
- Summer honey (July and August): snowberry, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), native wildflowers; light amber, likely to set over some months
- Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), snowberry, spotted and diffuse knapweed, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber, likely to set over some months
- Whole season (March to November): snowberry, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), native wildflowers, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber, likely to set over some months
Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.
Bee crops within flight range
- Alfalfa: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.
The land and water around Hays
Mostly: Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie; Northwestern Great Plains-Black Hills Ponderosa Pine Woodland and Savanna; Northern Rocky Mountain Montane-Foothill Deciduous Shrubland.
Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.02 mi W; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.12 mi W.
How Hays ranks
| Against random land in | Overall | Spring | Summer | Fall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental US | 31st | 24th | 66th | 74th |
| Montana | 45th | 48th | 52nd | 29th |
| Middle Rockies | 60th | 83rd | 56th | 23rd |
Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.
About 72% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.
The national forage map around Hays: darker is more forage. Tap anywhere to check that exact spot.
Nearby
Lodge Pole 5 mi · Landusky 8 mi · Zortman 10 mi · Fort Belknap Agency 29 mi · Dodson 33 mi · Harlem 36 mi
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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Hays (48.0104, -108.6606); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.