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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 33.0779, -111.7629

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Arizona. Against other Arizona sites it stands out most in spring (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.41 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 58th percentile (spring 76th, summer 20th, fall 18th)
  • Arizona: 97th percentile (spring 95th, summer 77th, fall 13th)
  • Sonoran Basin and Range: 92nd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 93rd, fall 23rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jan 16 to Jun 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,543 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 179 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 597 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms early Apr – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

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