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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 45.7053, -109.5472

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 38th percentile (spring 39th, summer 63rd, fall 75th)
  • Montana: 55th percentile (spring 89th, summer 44th, fall 30th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 58th percentile (spring 88th, summer 61st, fall 12th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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