Honey bee forage in Savage, Montana

When is the honey flow in Savage?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Sep 15, peaking late Jul (alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Savage, 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 13.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), soybeans, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); white, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

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 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 225 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Canola: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Jul (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 Savage

Mostly: Northwestern Great Plains Mixedgrass Prairie; Northwestern Great Plains Floodplain Herbaceous; Northern & Central Plains Ruderal & Planted Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.18 mi NE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.19 mi NE.

How Savage ranks

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

About 43% 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

Crane 10 mi · Sidney 20 mi · Fox Lake 21 mi · Bloomfield 27 mi · Glendive 30 mi · Fairview 31 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 Savage (47.4536, -104.3414); 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.