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.

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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 38.6843, -119.8231

Estimated forage here is better than about 54% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 3.2 mi E, 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: 55th percentile (spring 34th, summer 80th, fall 51st)
California: 54th percentile (spring 31st, summer 99th, fall 84th)
Sierra Nevada: 77th percentile (spring 38th, summer 99th, fall 86th)

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

Season

First forage: Apr 16 — Spring-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Spring-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Spring-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Snowberry; light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs, Snowberry, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
Whole season (March to November): Spring-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Snowberry; light amber

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.