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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 47.2575, -109.3573

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in spring (65th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 28th, summer 83rd, fall 95th)
  • Montana: 88th percentile (spring 65th, summer 88th, fall 83rd)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 88th percentile (spring 48th, summer 88th, fall 83rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Willows
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,310 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 420 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1,186 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 615 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 443 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 752 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early 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, Willows; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; white

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.