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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 45.6289, -110.6236

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (75th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 77th, fall 96th)
  • Montana: 81st percentile (spring 77th, summer 75th, fall 88th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 82nd percentile (spring 65th, summer 82nd, fall 90th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Native wildflowers, Arrowleaf balsamroot, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 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): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Dandelion; 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.