Honey bee forage in Reserve, Montana

When is the honey flow in Reserve?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion)
• Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31, peaking early Jul (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), peas, lentils)
• Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 15 (fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Reserve, 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 20.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), peas, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), native wildflowers; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), lentils, alfalfa; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), peas, lentils; 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

• Lentils: about 1,200 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Canola: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Peas: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late May – early Jul (grown 2 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 Reserve

Mostly: Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie; Durum Wheat; Northwestern Great Plains Floodplain Herbaceous.

Nearest mapped water: open water 0.17 mi SW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.22 mi E.

How Reserve ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 55% 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.

Nearby

Antelope 6 mi · Medicine Lake 7 mi · Plentywood 13 mi · Homestead 13 mi · Froid 18 mi · Outlook 25 mi

All towns in Montana · National map · How the scoring works

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 Reserve (48.6024, -104.4676); 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.