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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 48.5864, -109.0294

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here); peas (nearest 1.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 40th, summer 79th, fall 71st)
  • Montana: 81st percentile (spring 90th, summer 78th, fall 23rd)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 50th percentile (spring 86th, summer 50th, fall 29th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 308 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 617 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,614 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.