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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 48.7698, -114.8859

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.52 mi NE.

Ranking

Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 60th, summer 84th, fall 71st)
Montana: 96th percentile (spring 99th, summer 90th, fall 24th)
Northern Rockies: 77th percentile (spring 80th, summer 63rd, fall 80th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 16 — Willows, Dandelion
Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Snowberry, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red
Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Oct
Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Oct
Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Oct
Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Dandelion; amber
Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.