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 35.8853, -106.0608
Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in New Mexico. Against other New Mexico sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in fall (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 1.1 mi E); alfalfa (nearest 1.7 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi NW. 2 things to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 46th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 47th, fall 75th)
- New Mexico: 96th percentile (spring 91st, summer 90th, fall 70th)
- Arizona/New Mexico Plateau: 96th percentile (spring 98th, summer 94th, fall 65th)
Percentile among 3,000 random land points across New Mexico, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.
Season
- First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Weedy mustards
- Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
- Fall flow: Aug 1 to Sep 15 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
- Season ends: Oct 31
Bee crops nearby
- Cherries: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Apr – late Apr
- Cherries: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Apr – late Apr
- Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
- Cherries: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms early Apr – late Apr
- Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
- Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; amber
- Whole season (March to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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). 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 (A) 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.