Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 36.4649, -105.5638

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in New Mexico. Against other New Mexico sites it stands out most in summer (80th percentile) and lowest in spring (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E, 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.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 16th percentile (spring 28th, summer 39th, fall 69th)
  • New Mexico: 51st percentile (spring 35th, summer 80th, fall 60th)
  • Arizona/New Mexico Plateau: 81st percentile (spring 65th, summer 90th, fall 53rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Sep 15 — Native wildflowers, Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 15 — Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Rabbitbrush
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Spring-flowering shrubs, Native wildflowers, Native wildflowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Rabbitbrush; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Native wildflowers, Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; light amber

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.