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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 42.8740, -115.7950

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.6 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 55th, summer 76th, fall 56th)
  • Idaho: 73rd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 56th, fall 18th)
  • Snake River Plain: 72nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 67th, fall 11th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Idaho, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Willows, Weedy mustards, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 525 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 336 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 598 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 304 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.