Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 43.4028, -111.2797

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (71st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.5 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 46th, summer 80th, fall 92nd)
  • Idaho: 85th percentile (spring 84th, summer 71st, fall 80th)
  • Middle Rockies: 95th percentile (spring 97th, summer 92nd, fall 69th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Willows
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Nov 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 191 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 354 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 538 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 219 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Native wildflowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; 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.