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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 47.8983, -108.6195

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (69th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.2 mi SW, grown 1 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: 45th percentile (spring 26th, summer 75th, fall 69th)
  • Montana: 65th percentile (spring 55th, summer 69th, fall 20th)
  • Middle Rockies: 79th percentile (spring 85th, summer 84th, fall 15th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Willows, Native wildflowers, Arrowleaf balsamroot
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 15 — Snowberry, Native wildflowers
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 343 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Willows, Serviceberry, Chokecherry and bitter cherry; amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Mallow ninebark; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Fireweed; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Serviceberry; 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.