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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 43.5995, -111.1098

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (83rd). 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), 0.12 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 45th, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • Idaho: 98th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 96th, fall 98th)
  • Snake River Plain: 97th percentile (spring 80th, summer 95th, fall 99th)

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, Willows
  • Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,139 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 314 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 271 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 330 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

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