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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 43.1888, -112.5298

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it ranks highest in spring (49th percentile) and lowest in fall (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi S); canola (nearest 1.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.37 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 13th percentile (spring 22nd, summer 41st, fall 37th)
  • Idaho: 7th percentile (spring 49th, summer 12th, fall 6th)
  • Snake River Plain: 10th percentile (spring 40th, summer 20th, fall 4th)

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 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,180 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 162 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 75% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.