Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 45.0520, -110.7383

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (63rd percentile) and lowest in summer (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.44 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 23rd percentile (spring 20th, summer 54th, fall 89th)
  • Montana: 25th percentile (spring 30th, summer 26th, fall 63rd)
  • Middle Rockies: 41st percentile (spring 75th, summer 26th, fall 59th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Arrowleaf balsamroot, Native wildflowers, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 15 — Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Rubber rabbitbrush
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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