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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 46.5960, -112.1155

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 3.6 mi N, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 40th percentile (spring 34th, summer 64th, fall 89th)
  • Montana: 60th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 48th, fall 64th)
  • Middle Rockies: 74th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 50th, fall 59th)

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, Willows, Arrowleaf balsamroot
  • Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 15 — Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Rubber rabbitbrush
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Snowberry; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.