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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 47.3158, -116.5706

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 71st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 77th, fall 70th)
  • Idaho: 86th percentile (spring 97th, summer 59th, fall 35th)
  • Northern Rockies: 58th percentile (spring 86th, summer 6th, fall 78th)

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 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Oct

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Dandelion, Willows; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 55% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.