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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 42.7966, -112.2542

Estimated forage here is better than about 71% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.14 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 44th, summer 76th, fall 84th)
  • Idaho: 71st percentile (spring 82nd, summer 55th, fall 64th)
  • Northern Basin and Range: 97th percentile (spring 97th, summer 97th, fall 60th)

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: May 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 266 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 348 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 468 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, AE) 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.