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 39.3602, -120.7891

Estimated forage here is better than about 45% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in spring (59th percentile) and lowest in fall (9th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

Continental US: 44th percentile (spring 86th, summer 23rd, fall 1st)
California: 45th percentile (spring 59th, summer 46th, fall 9th)
Sierra Nevada: 60th percentile (spring 78th, summer 20th, fall 4th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 1 — Kinnikinnick, Maples, Dandelion
Main flow: Mar 1 to May 31 — Kinnikinnick, Snowberry, Ceanothus: redstem
Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jun 30 — Snowberry, Summer-flowering shrubs
Season ends: Aug 15

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Snowberry, Kinnikinnick, Ceanothus: redstem, Oregon grape; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
Whole season (March to November): Snowberry, Kinnikinnick, Ceanothus: redstem, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

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.