Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 46.5530, -116.9283

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring and summer (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (7th). Biggest nearby bee crops: canola (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.35 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 69th, summer 87th, fall 40th)
  • Idaho: 99th percentile (spring 98th, summer 98th, fall 7th)
  • Columbia Plateau: 94th percentile (spring 89th, summer 96th, fall 10th)

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, Canola, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 31 — Canola, Chick Peas
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Canola: about 1,934 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 2,773 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Canola: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 1,581 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Canola: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Canola: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Apr – early 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): Chick Peas, Canola, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Canola, Chick Peas, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 57% 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.