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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.

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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 48.6244, -112.3511

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in fall (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (54th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); mustard (nearest 3.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 2.8 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 35th, summer 67th, fall 97th)
  • Montana: 69th percentile (spring 85th, summer 54th, fall 92nd)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 41st percentile (spring 78th, summer 30th, fall 89th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 1 to Oct 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 334 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 321 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 357 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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