Honey bee forage in Hidden Springs, Idaho

When is the honey flow in Hidden Springs?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, weedy mustards)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 31, peaking early May (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, spotted and diffuse knapweed)
• Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 (spotted and diffuse knapweed, green/yellow rabbitbrush, dandelion)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Hidden Springs, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 2.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, weedy mustards, native wildflowers; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): spotted and diffuse knapweed, clovers: white, alsike and red, yellow starthistle, dandelion; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): spotted and diffuse knapweed, green/yellow rabbitbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, yellow starthistle; amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, spotted and diffuse knapweed, native wildflowers; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Cherries: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Apr – early May

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Hidden Springs

Mostly: Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Steppe; Great Basin & Intermountain Introduced Annual Grassland; Inter-Mountain Basins Big Sagebrush Shrubland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.07 mi W; open water 0.08 mi SW.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

How Hidden Springs ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

Nearby

Avimor 4 mi · Garden City 4 mi · Eagle 8 mi · Boise City 8 mi · Meridian 10 mi · Star 12 mi

All towns in Idaho · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Hidden Springs (43.7165, -116.2594); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.