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 37.2581, -105.9063

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Colorado. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Colorado sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi W); canola (nearest 2.0 mi SW, grown 1 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: 87th percentile (spring 54th, summer 87th, fall 99th)
  • Colorado: 100th percentile (spring 91st, summer 99th, fall 98th)
  • Arizona/New Mexico Plateau: 100th percentile (spring 95th, summer 100th, fall 99th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Willows, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 5,076 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 440 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 504 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 538 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2,452 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Willows; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.