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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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 38.7636, -122.1535
Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in spring (79th percentile) and lowest in fall (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: almonds (nearest 0.1 mi NE); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SW); sunflower (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 97th, summer 35th, fall 24th)
- California: 83rd percentile (spring 79th, summer 61st, fall 48th)
- Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains: 54th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 50th, fall 25th)
Percentile among 3,000 random land points across California, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.
Season
- First forage: Jan 16 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Almonds
- Main flow: Feb 1 to Mar 15 — Almonds, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
- Fall flow: Apr 1 to Jun 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa
- Season ends: Jul 31
Bee crops nearby
- Almonds: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Feb – late Mar
- Alfalfa: about 145 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early Jun
- Almonds: about 441 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms early Feb – late Mar
- Almonds: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
- Almonds: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
- Alfalfa: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Apr – early Jun
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa, Almonds, Citrus; extra light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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), Alfalfa, Almonds, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
Things to watch
- Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Citrus: grapefruit: insecticides used on about 63% of surveyed US acres (2025); Citrus: lemons: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2025); Citrus: tangerines: insecticides used on about 82% of surveyed US acres (2025); 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.
- Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.
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.