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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.

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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 42.5312, -114.3023

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 40th, summer 88th, fall 80th)
  • Idaho: 96th percentile (spring 75th, summer 98th, fall 53rd)
  • Snake River Plain: 95th percentile (spring 70th, summer 98th, fall 45th)

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, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 586 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2,093 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 113 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 545 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 150 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.