Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 45.9634, -110.8772

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (34th). 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), 0.24 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 21st, summer 82nd, fall 100th)
  • Montana: 93rd percentile (spring 34th, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 91st percentile (spring 17th, summer 88th, fall 99th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Willows, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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