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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 42.5615, -112.1737

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); safflower (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.25 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 86th, fall 79th)
  • Idaho: 93rd percentile (spring 77th, summer 95th, fall 52nd)
  • Northern Basin and Range: 99th percentile (spring 95th, summer 99th, fall 36th)

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 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,701 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 231 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 465 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 147 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Safflower: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.