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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.

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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 35.5938, -119.3677

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: almonds (right here); cherries (right here); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 100th percentile (spring 99th, summer 11th, fall 8th)
  • California: 99th percentile (spring 91st, summer 33rd, fall 23rd)
  • Central California Valley: 89th percentile (spring 69th, summer 25th, fall 59th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Almonds
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Mar 15 — Almonds
  • Season ends: Mar 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Almonds: about 22,996 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms early Feb – early Mar
  • Cherries: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Feb – late Feb
  • Almonds: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Feb – early Mar
  • Almonds: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Feb – early Mar
  • Almonds: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Feb – early Mar
  • Alfalfa: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Apr – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 58% of surveyed US acres (2021); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 56% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% 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.