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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 46.5996, -107.8684

Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (93rd percentile) and lowest in fall (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 47th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 67th, fall 82nd)
  • Montana: 68th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 55th, fall 44th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 94th, summer 69th, fall 23rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 490 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 448 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,031 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Sorghum: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 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), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; 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.