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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 46.2384, -116.2379

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in summer (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). 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: 82nd percentile (spring 56th, summer 88th, fall 52nd)
  • Idaho: 97th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 98th, fall 14th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 91st percentile (spring 67th, summer 97th, fall 19th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Canola, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Canola
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 231 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 267 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Canola: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Canola, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Summer honey (July and August): Canola, Chick Peas, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Canola, Alfalfa, Chick Peas, Dandelion; white

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 62% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • 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.