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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 46.4905, -110.2610

Estimated forage here is better than about 90% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in spring (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S); peas (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 30th, summer 81st, fall 98th)
  • Montana: 90th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 85th, fall 93rd)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 89th percentile (spring 58th, summer 87th, fall 96th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 752 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 447 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Peas: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Peas: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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