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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 48.8230, -104.9408

Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (77th percentile) and lowest in summer (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: lentils (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 41st percentile (spring 32nd, summer 66th, fall 88th)
  • Montana: 61st percentile (spring 77th, summer 52nd, fall 62nd)
  • Northwestern Glaciated Plains: 34th percentile (spring 69th, summer 29th, fall 60th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Alfalfa
  • Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 15 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Lentils: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Peas: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Lentils: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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