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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 47.8310, -114.5559

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Montana. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Montana sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 2.8 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 57th, summer 89th, fall 99th)
  • Montana: 99th percentile (spring 98th, summer 99th, fall 96th)
  • Northern Rockies: 98th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 97th, fall 99th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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