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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 45.0085, -113.0666

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (76th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 82nd, fall 100th)
  • Montana: 94th percentile (spring 76th, summer 86th, fall 98th)
  • Middle Rockies: 96th percentile (spring 91st, summer 94th, fall 98th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Montana, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Fall flow: Oct 16 to Oct 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 208 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Native wildflowers, Willows; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Green/yellow rabbitbrush; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Dandelion; extra light amber

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.