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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 36.3176, -119.7066

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in fall (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: almonds (nearest 0.3 mi NE); cherries (nearest 0.3 mi NE); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi N). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.36 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 96th, summer 28th, fall 10th)
  • California: 85th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 52nd, fall 26th)
  • Central California Valley: 47th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 54th, fall 63rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Almonds, Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Mar 15 — Almonds, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Jul 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Almonds: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 2,475 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 538 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Feb – late Mar

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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). 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.