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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 46.4386, -109.8365

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (83rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi S); peas (nearest 2.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); mustard (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 57th, summer 80th, fall 96th)
  • Montana: 95th percentile (spring 98th, summer 83rd, fall 88th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 99th, summer 86th, fall 90th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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