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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 34.7800, -106.6944

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in New Mexico. Against other New Mexico sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.9 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); watermelons (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 3 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 64th, fall 35th)
  • New Mexico: 100th percentile (spring 100th, summer 97th, fall 18th)
  • Arizona/New Mexico Plateau: 99th percentile (spring 100th, summer 97th, fall 12th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 57% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) 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.