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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 47.4890, -112.3955

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.9 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 1.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 47th, summer 78th, fall 85th)
  • Montana: 87th percentile (spring 95th, summer 77th, fall 50th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 55th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 49th, fall 53rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 580 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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