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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 43.7685, -116.2592

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (43rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cherries (nearest 2.4 mi S). 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: 56th percentile (spring 51st, summer 70th, fall 81st)
  • Idaho: 65th percentile (spring 90th, summer 43rd, fall 57th)
  • Idaho Batholith: 53rd percentile (spring 96th, summer 15th, fall 46th)

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, Arrowleaf balsamroot, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Yellow starthistle
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Cherries: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Snowberry, Yellow starthistle; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Yellow starthistle; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.