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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 38.7796, -119.8069

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in spring (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 51st percentile (spring 61st, summer 62nd, fall 65th)
  • California: 51st percentile (spring 42nd, summer 88th, fall 95th)
  • Central Basin and Range: 93rd percentile (spring 98th, summer 90th, fall 36th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spring-flowering shrubs, Ceanothus: redstem; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Summer-flowering shrubs, Snowberry; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Spring-flowering shrubs; extra 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.