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.

Forage on the map in —

National map

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 39.7404, -120.5636

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.6 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.19 mi SE.

Ranking

Continental US: 71st percentile (spring 76th, summer 72nd, fall 60th)
California: 67th percentile (spring 51st, summer 96th, fall 92nd)
Sierra Nevada: 91st percentile (spring 68th, summer 90th, fall 93rd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Kinnikinnick
Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Alfalfa: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Snowberry, Kinnikinnick; extra light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; 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, Ceanothus: redstem; 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.