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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 43.9990, -111.3450

Estimated forage here is better than about 29% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it ranks highest in fall (49th percentile) and lowest in spring (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.19 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 27th percentile (spring 13th, summer 65th, fall 77th)
  • Idaho: 29th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 36th, fall 49th)
  • Snake River Plain: 35th percentile (spring 24th, summer 46th, fall 40th)

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: Jun 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 227 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 681 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 389 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Canola, Willows; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Canola; 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, Canola; white

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 66% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.