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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 45.7943, -112.9439

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 59th percentile (spring 31st, summer 77th, fall 97th)
  • Montana: 80th percentile (spring 75th, summer 73rd, fall 90th)
  • Middle Rockies: 91st percentile (spring 90th, summer 88th, fall 86th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Willows, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows, Native wildflowers
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Native wildflowers; amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Snowberry; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; light amber

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.