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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 39.4117, -121.7121

Estimated forage here is better than about 49% of sites in California. Against other California sites it ranks highest in spring (46th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); almonds (nearest 1.5 mi E); prunes (nearest 1.1 mi SE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 68th, summer 14th, fall 6th)
  • California: 49th percentile (spring 46th, summer 37th, fall 20th)
  • Central California Valley: 11th percentile (spring 12th, summer 31st, fall 54th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Prunes
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Mar 31 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Apr 16 to May 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Almonds: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Almonds: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Mar
  • Prunes: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Feb – late Feb
  • Prunes: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms early Feb – late Feb
  • Almonds: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi S, blooms early Feb – late Mar

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 46% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Prunes: insecticides used on about 54% of surveyed US acres (2025); Plums: insecticides used on about 75% 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.

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.