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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 48.5780, -112.8736

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 27th, summer 80th, fall 100th)
  • Montana: 92nd percentile (spring 58th, summer 81st, fall 99th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 62nd percentile (spring 51st, summer 53rd, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Native wildflowers
  • Fall flow: Oct 16 to Oct 31 — Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 512 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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