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.

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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 46.2683, -106.4533

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.9 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi SW.

Ranking

Continental US: 43rd percentile (spring 40th, summer 65th, fall 81st)
Montana: 63rd percentile (spring 90th, summer 51st, fall 41st)
Northwestern Great Plains: 66th percentile (spring 90th, summer 65th, fall 20th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

Alfalfa: about 1,065 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Alfalfa: about 277 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
Alfalfa: about 474 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Dry beans: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
Corn: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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