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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 36.1883, -119.8215

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: almonds (nearest 0.2 mi N); corn (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.2 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 85th, summer 56th, fall 6th)
  • California: 76th percentile (spring 58th, summer 82nd, fall 20th)
  • Central California Valley: 34th percentile (spring 27th, summer 87th, fall 55th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Almonds
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Mar 15 — Almonds, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Apr 1 to Jul 15 — Alfalfa, Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Almonds: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Corn: about 368 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 497 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Almonds: about 315 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi N, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Alfalfa: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Apr – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

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