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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 46.4542, -108.5750

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (51st percentile) and lowest in summer (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 3 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: 18th percentile (spring 25th, summer 46th, fall 68th)
  • Montana: 7th percentile (spring 51st, summer 12th, fall 18th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 8th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 18th, fall 5th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 316 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Snowberry, Smooth sumac, Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa; 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.