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 38.5413, -123.2593

Estimated forage here is better than about 27% of sites in California. Against other California sites it ranks highest in spring (39th percentile) and lowest in fall (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: grapes (nearest 1.6 mi NE); apples (nearest 2.0 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 14th percentile (spring 55th, summer 4th, fall 4th)
  • California: 27th percentile (spring 39th, summer 21st, fall 15th)
  • Coast Range: 3rd percentile (spring 4th, summer 4th, fall 46th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 15 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Huckleberries
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Grapes: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Grapes: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Grapes: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Grapes: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Grapes: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Grapes: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 58% of surveyed US acres (2021); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 56% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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.
  • 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.