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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 47.3304, -116.8851

Estimated forage here is better than about 90% of sites in Idaho. Against other Idaho sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 1.0 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi E, grown 4 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: 74th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 79th, fall 72nd)
  • Idaho: 90th percentile (spring 97th, summer 67th, fall 39th)
  • Northern Rockies: 66th percentile (spring 86th, summer 17th, fall 81st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Willows, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Canola: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Canola: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Chickpeas: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, 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, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Willows; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.