Arcadia Bees
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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 what blooms within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more) and when, the gaps in the season, 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 report for 48.8148, -110.2626

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: mustard (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); lentils (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.29 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 2nd, summer 99th, fall 38th)
  • Montana: 100th percentile (spring 5th, summer 100th, fall 1st)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 2nd, summer 94th, fall 3rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jun 1 — Mustard
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Jul 15 — Mustard
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Mustard: about 2,079 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 416 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Mustard: about 900 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 152 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Mustard, Dandelion; white
  • Summer honey (July and August): Mustard, Lentils, Chick Peas; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Mustard, Lentils; white

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 46% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.