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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 39.6637, -120.4395

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 77th, fall 75th)
  • California: 72nd percentile (spring 48th, summer 99th, fall 97th)
  • Sierra Nevada: 94th percentile (spring 64th, summer 97th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Kinnikinnick; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

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.