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 48.1902, -112.2809
Estimated forage here is better than about 54% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (67th percentile) and lowest in fall (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: mustard (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 37th percentile (spring 13th, summer 74th, fall 64th)
- Montana: 54th percentile (spring 19th, summer 67th, fall 14th)
- Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 29th percentile (spring 17th, summer 41st, fall 20th)
Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Montana, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.
Season
- First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Canola
- Main flow: Jun 16 to Jul 31 — Mustard, Alfalfa
- Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
- Season ends: Oct 31
Bee crops nearby
- Mustard: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
- Chickpeas: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
- Alfalfa: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
- Chickpeas: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
- Mustard: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
- Canola: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Mustard, Canola, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; white
- Summer honey (July and August): Mustard, Alfalfa, Chick Peas, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
- Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
- Whole season (March to November): Mustard, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Canola; white
Things to watch
- Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 37% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
- 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.