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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 34.1544, -117.3484

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.71 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 88th, summer 32nd, fall 44th)
  • California: 81st percentile (spring 61st, summer 58th, fall 79th)
  • Southern California/Northern Baja Coast: 77th percentile (spring 56th, summer 93rd, fall 87th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jan 16 to Apr 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 15 — Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi N, blooms early Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SW, blooms early Apr – late May

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Citrus; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 78% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.