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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.

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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 39.5601, -107.2931

Estimated forage here is better than about 33% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in summer (55th percentile) and lowest in fall (10th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 2.9 mi W); apples (nearest 2.1 mi W); alfalfa (nearest 1.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 27th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 64th, fall 44th)
  • Colorado: 33rd percentile (spring 48th, summer 55th, fall 10th)
  • Southern Rockies: 47th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 45th, fall 15th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Spring-flowering shrubs, Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi W, blooms early May – late May
  • Apples: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms early May – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Spring-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Snowberry, Spring-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Rabbitbrush; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Native wildflowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing 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.