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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 45.9479, -108.3456

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 48th, summer 78th, fall 77th)
  • Montana: 86th percentile (spring 96th, summer 76th, fall 34th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 85th percentile (spring 97th, summer 83rd, fall 15th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 159 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 102 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light 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.