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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 42.1115, -111.9820

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (93rd percentile) and lowest in spring and fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N); dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 24th, summer 85th, fall 79th)
  • Idaho: 84th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 93rd, fall 52nd)
  • Central Basin and Range: 97th percentile (spring 74th, summer 99th, fall 65th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 3,281 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 888 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Peas: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.