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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 45.4646, -112.1357

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in spring (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here); corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, 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: 42nd percentile (spring 16th, summer 67th, fall 98th)
  • Montana: 62nd percentile (spring 23rd, summer 55th, fall 93rd)
  • Middle Rockies: 76th percentile (spring 68th, summer 60th, fall 91st)

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, Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Sep 30 — Native wildflowers, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 204 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 256 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 200 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, blooms late Jul – late 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): Alfalfa, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.