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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.

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 38.0506, -103.7223

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi NW); corn (nearest 1.0 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 1.2 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 85th, summer 81st, fall 64th)
  • Colorado: 100th percentile (spring 100th, summer 92nd, fall 35th)
  • Southwestern Tablelands: 100th percentile (spring 99th, summer 99th, fall 30th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,345 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,621 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 396 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 61% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.
  • 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.