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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 38.4438, -121.9824

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in California. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other California sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: clover and wildflowers (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); almonds (nearest 0.7 mi SE); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.1 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 99th, summer 63rd, fall 50th)
  • California: 93rd percentile (spring 93rd, summer 89th, fall 84th)
  • Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains: 85th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 87th, fall 73rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clover/Wildflowers
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Clover and wildflowers: about 400 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Mar – early Jul
  • Almonds: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 529 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Mar

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra 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), Clover/Wildflowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Prunes: insecticides used on about 54% 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.