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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 36.9587, -121.7830

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (69th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.3 mi SE); strawberries (nearest 0.6 mi NE, 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: 89th percentile (spring 94th, summer 26th, fall 35th)
  • California: 84th percentile (spring 68th, summer 50th, fall 69th)
  • Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains: 56th percentile (spring 20th, summer 33rd, fall 42nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Mar 15 — Apples, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Apr 1 to Apr 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Jul 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 277 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Apples: about 133 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Apples: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Apples: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Apples: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Apples: about 198 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late Feb – early Mar

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Strawberries: insecticides used on about 96% 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.