Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 48.1766, -114.4084

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Montana. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Montana sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 2.7 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.6 mi NE); camelina (nearest 2.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 56th, summer 85th, fall 97th)
  • Montana: 97th percentile (spring 98th, summer 93rd, fall 89th)
  • Northern Rockies: 87th percentile (spring 71st, summer 75th, fall 96th)

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 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Canola: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Canola: about 272 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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