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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 42.9236, -114.9477

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (94th percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.33 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 58th, summer 79th, fall 73rd)
  • Idaho: 87th percentile (spring 94th, summer 68th, fall 42nd)
  • Snake River Plain: 82nd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 76th, fall 32nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Weedy mustards, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 183 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Dry beans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 148 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

  • 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.