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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 48.8798, -115.0493

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Montana. Against other Montana sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 69th, summer 85th, fall 92nd)
  • Montana: 98th percentile (spring 100th, summer 94th, fall 73rd)
  • Northern Rockies: 93rd percentile (spring 94th, summer 78th, fall 94th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Willows
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 15 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Oct

What the honey would be made of

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