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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 39.6103, -106.6207

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in summer (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). 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: 64th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 80th, fall 74th)
  • Colorado: 89th percentile (spring 65th, summer 90th, fall 52nd)
  • Southern Rockies: 90th percentile (spring 95th, summer 88th, fall 55th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Willows, Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 15 — Snowberry, Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Snowberry, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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