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 43.9693, -116.8193

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SW); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 68th, summer 87th, fall 61st)
  • Idaho: 99th percentile (spring 98th, summer 97th, fall 23rd)
  • Snake River Plain: 98th percentile (spring 96th, summer 97th, fall 15th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 88 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 137 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 562 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 367 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.