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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 42.7552, -113.4928

Estimated forage here is better than about 15% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (58th percentile) and lowest in summer (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.13 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 17th percentile (spring 27th, summer 46th, fall 56th)
  • Idaho: 15th percentile (spring 58th, summer 15th, fall 18th)
  • Snake River Plain: 22nd percentile (spring 49th, summer 25th, fall 12th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 72% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.