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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 43.7217, -111.9928

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (79th percentile) and lowest in fall (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 39th, summer 82nd, fall 76th)
  • Idaho: 79th percentile (spring 74th, summer 79th, fall 46th)
  • Snake River Plain: 76th percentile (spring 68th, summer 82nd, fall 38th)

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: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 4,863 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 324 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1,007 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 158 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 325 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 36% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).

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.