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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 43.7295, -111.1041

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in fall (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (76th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.28 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 87th, fall 100th)
  • Idaho: 99th percentile (spring 76th, summer 97th, fall 100th)
  • Snake River Plain: 98th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 97th, fall 100th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Willows
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Nov 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 416 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 650 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 359 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 51% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.