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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 48.5702, -113.0316

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (82nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 2.0 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 34th, summer 83rd, fall 99th)
  • Montana: 95th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 90th, fall 98th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 67th percentile (spring 74th, summer 60th, fall 97th)

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, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 143 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Peas: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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