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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 46.4850, -116.2549

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 1.9 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 1.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 1.8 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.34 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 71st, summer 80th, fall 49th)
  • Idaho: 93rd percentile (spring 98th, summer 75th, fall 12th)
  • Northern Rockies: 74th percentile (spring 95th, summer 32nd, fall 34th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Willows
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Canola: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi S, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.