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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 43.7354, -113.3665

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in fall (92nd percentile) and lowest in spring (63rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi W, 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.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 31st, summer 82nd, fall 97th)
  • Idaho: 84th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 81st, fall 92nd)
  • Middle Rockies: 94th percentile (spring 90th, summer 95th, fall 87th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Idaho, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 5,957 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Aug – late Sep
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Aug – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 372 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; white

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.