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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 46.4211, -104.5218

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (76th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 40th, summer 78th, fall 95th)
  • Montana: 85th percentile (spring 90th, summer 76th, fall 84th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 85th percentile (spring 90th, summer 83rd, fall 85th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,439 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 248 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1,391 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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