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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 38.5177, -119.4750

Estimated forage here is better than about 46% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.9 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 46th percentile (spring 55th, summer 58th, fall 79th)
  • California: 46th percentile (spring 39th, summer 84th, fall 98th)
  • Central Basin and Range: 92nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 88th, fall 64th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Weedy mustards; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers, Snowberry; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Clovers: white, alsike and red; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Native wildflowers; 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.