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 37.1646, -118.2977

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in spring (60th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 87th, summer 44th, fall 52nd)
  • California: 64th percentile (spring 60th, summer 71st, fall 86th)
  • Central Basin and Range: 96th percentile (spring 100th, summer 74th, fall 19th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 157 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 239 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi SE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rabbitbrush, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.