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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 46.9528, -112.6720

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 3.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 70th, summer 86th, fall 92nd)
Montana: 99th percentile (spring 100th, summer 96th, fall 73rd)
Middle Rockies: 99th percentile (spring 100th, summer 99th, fall 67th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 16 — Willows
Main flow: May 1 to Aug 15 — Willows, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red
Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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