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.

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 38.8078, -121.2500

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (78th percentile) and lowest in summer (66th). Biggest nearby bee crops: grapes (nearest 3.5 mi E). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.27 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 94th, summer 39th, fall 43rd)
California: 80th percentile (spring 69th, summer 66th, fall 78th)
Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains: 47th percentile (spring 21st, summer 57th, fall 59th)

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

Season

First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion
Main flow: Feb 1 to Apr 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 30 — Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Grapes: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

Heavily developed. About 90% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.