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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 42.6680, -113.5985

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 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: 72nd percentile (spring 37th, summer 85th, fall 76th)
  • Idaho: 88th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 92nd, fall 46th)
  • Snake River Plain: 83rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 90th, fall 38th)

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: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 703 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2,389 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 213 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1,352 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,461 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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