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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 48.6054, -113.1399

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 13th, summer 85th, fall 100th)
  • Montana: 95th percentile (spring 19th, summer 94th, fall 99th)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 67th percentile (spring 17th, summer 64th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Native wildflowers, Arrowleaf balsamroot
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Sep 30 — Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Nov
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Nov

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Arrowleaf balsamroot, Serviceberry, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Serviceberry; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Native wildflowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Arrowleaf balsamroot; light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.