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 32.4287, -111.2650

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Arizona. Against other Arizona sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.33 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 37th percentile (spring 54th, summer 35th, fall 17th)
  • Arizona: 92nd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 94th, fall 13th)
  • Sonoran Basin and Range: 87th percentile (spring 84th, summer 98th, fall 22nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jul 15 — Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 779 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Cotton: about 295 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 249 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 361 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi N, blooms early Apr – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Rabbitbrush; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Rabbitbrush, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); dark amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.

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.