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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 47.1501, -110.2202

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (63rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.7 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.59 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 67th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 80th, fall 89th)
  • Montana: 88th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 81st, fall 63rd)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 87th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 86th, fall 48th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 515 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 592 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 467 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Chickpeas: about 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 285 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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