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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 31.8403, -109.0276

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in New Mexico. Against other New Mexico sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.82 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 23rd percentile (spring 58th, summer 17th, fall 43rd)
  • New Mexico: 64th percentile (spring 86th, summer 31st, fall 25th)
  • Madrean Archipelago: 55th percentile (spring 58th, summer 69th, fall 42nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Apr – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Rabbitbrush; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.