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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 45.5812, -106.7772

Estimated forage here is better than about 1% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it ranks highest in spring (24th percentile) and lowest in summer (2nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 12th percentile (spring 17th, summer 38th, fall 63rd)
  • Montana: 1st percentile (spring 24th, summer 2nd, fall 13th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 1st percentile (spring 7th, summer 3rd, fall 3rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Smooth sumac, Snowberry, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sweet clovers; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Snowberry, Sweet clovers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Native wildflowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.