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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 43.8435, -112.4778

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 1.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 11th, summer 86th, fall 81st)
  • Idaho: 85th percentile (spring 27th, summer 97th, fall 55th)
  • Snake River Plain: 81st percentile (spring 17th, summer 96th, fall 48th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 13,975 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 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, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.