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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 46.2694, -106.6716

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 1.1 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.21 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 51st percentile (spring 58th, summer 63rd, fall 74th)
  • Montana: 72nd percentile (spring 98th, summer 44th, fall 29th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 75th percentile (spring 99th, summer 61st, fall 11th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 391 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 187 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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