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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.

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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 46.4586, -109.7522

Estimated forage here is better than about 14% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it ranks highest in summer (38th percentile) and lowest in fall (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: peas (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); mustard (nearest 1.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 20th percentile (spring 13th, summer 60th, fall 61st)
  • Montana: 14th percentile (spring 18th, summer 38th, fall 11th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 15th percentile (spring 4th, summer 56th, fall 2nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Peas, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Peas: about 298 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Mustard: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Mustard: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Mustard: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Peas, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Peas; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Peas, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 37% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).

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.