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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 47.2698, -110.7317

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (78th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 36th, summer 79th, fall 97th)
  • Montana: 87th percentile (spring 87th, summer 78th, fall 91st)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 86th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 84th, fall 93rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 378 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 876 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Snowberry, 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.