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 45.9729, -109.2573

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N); safflower (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.36 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 52nd percentile (spring 29th, summer 77th, fall 74th)
  • Montana: 73rd percentile (spring 67th, summer 75th, fall 29th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 76th percentile (spring 50th, summer 82nd, fall 11th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 483 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 358 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 81 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 263 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Safflower: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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