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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 42.3542, -114.5820

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 2.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.67 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 49th, summer 72nd, fall 94th)
  • Idaho: 70th percentile (spring 88th, summer 46th, fall 83rd)
  • Northern Basin and Range: 97th percentile (spring 98th, summer 94th, fall 90th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Sep 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Weedy mustards, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Yellow starthistle, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Yellow starthistle, Rubber rabbitbrush; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra 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.