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 46.7364, -116.7739

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: chickpeas (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); lentils (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 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: 72nd percentile (spring 60th, summer 80th, fall 60th)
  • Idaho: 87th percentile (spring 95th, summer 73rd, fall 22nd)
  • Northern Rockies: 60th percentile (spring 78th, summer 29th, fall 58th)

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 31 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Chickpeas: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Canola: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Lentils: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 38% 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.