Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 39.6124, -102.5932

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W); sorghum (nearest 1.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.36 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 65th, summer 80th, fall 63rd)
  • Colorado: 96th percentile (spring 98th, summer 91st, fall 32nd)
  • High Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 89th, summer 87th, 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 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Jul 31 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 540 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,644 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 462 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 805 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sorghum: about 181 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.