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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 47.3854, -114.7935

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 3.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 60th, summer 84th, fall 56th)
  • Montana: 95th percentile (spring 99th, summer 91st, fall 6th)
  • Northern Rockies: 74th percentile (spring 79th, summer 67th, fall 49th)

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, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 31 — Snowberry, Willows
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 180 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.