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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 44.0733, -111.4476

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in fall (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); mustard (nearest 2.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.34 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 54th percentile (spring 37th, summer 76th, fall 78th)
  • Idaho: 60th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 54th, fall 50th)
  • Snake River Plain: 63rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 66th, fall 42nd)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 287 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 301 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 268 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 54% 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.