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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 47.4527, -104.3396

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 69th percentile (spring 59th, summer 77th, fall 81st)
  • Montana: 89th percentile (spring 99th, summer 73rd, fall 42nd)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 89th percentile (spring 99th, summer 81st, fall 21st)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 225 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.