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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 46.8353, -105.1264

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Montana. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Montana sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SE); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 42nd, summer 86th, fall 98th)
  • Montana: 97th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 96th, fall 94th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 94th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 92nd, 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 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 597 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 387 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.