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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 45.4336, -109.8050

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 40th, summer 77th, fall 93rd)
  • Montana: 82nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 73rd, fall 77th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 83rd percentile (spring 90th, summer 80th, fall 72nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Snowberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.