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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 46.4036, -116.8038

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: peas (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 84th, summer 68th, fall 56th)
  • Idaho: 89th percentile (spring 99th, summer 40th, fall 18th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 82nd percentile (spring 94th, summer 59th, fall 23rd)

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, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 15 — Peas, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Yellow starthistle
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Peas: about 288 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Canola: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Apr – late Jun
  • Peas: about 410 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Canola: about 341 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms early Apr – late Jun
  • Canola: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early Apr – late Jun
  • Chickpeas: about 418 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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