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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 36.3582, -119.0644

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: citrus (nearest 0.1 mi W); almonds (nearest 0.9 mi N); corn (nearest 1.9 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 100th percentile (spring 100th, summer 19th, fall 16th)
  • California: 100th percentile (spring 100th, summer 43rd, fall 36th)
  • Central California Valley: 99th percentile (spring 99th, summer 39th, fall 72nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Almonds
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to May 15 — Citrus
  • Season ends: May 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Citrus: about 7,547 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Citrus: about 116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Citrus: about 414 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi W, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Almonds: about 342 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms early Feb – early Mar
  • Citrus: about 236 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Citrus: about 526 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi W, blooms late Mar – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Citrus: grapefruit: insecticides used on about 63% of surveyed US acres (2025); Citrus: lemons: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2025); Citrus: tangerines: insecticides used on about 82% 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.