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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 38.6868, -104.7508

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in fall (78th percentile) and lowest in summer (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.4 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 37th percentile (spring 45th, summer 50th, fall 87th)
  • Colorado: 52nd percentile (spring 74th, summer 33rd, fall 78th)
  • Southwestern Tablelands: 67th percentile (spring 25th, summer 84th, fall 87th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Sep 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Native wildflowers
  • Fall flow: Oct 16 to Oct 31 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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