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 39.8795, -121.1985

Estimated forage here is better than about 33% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (69th percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 22nd percentile (spring 52nd, summer 42nd, fall 14th)
California: 33rd percentile (spring 38th, summer 69th, fall 32nd)
Sierra Nevada: 34th percentile (spring 50th, summer 42nd, fall 29th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 16 — Kinnikinnick, Maples, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Kinnikinnick, Snowberry, Oregon grape
Season ends: Sep 30

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Kinnikinnick, Oregon grape, Snowberry, Ceanothus: redstem; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Snowberry, Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Native wildflowers; light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Snowberry, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber
Whole season (March to November): Kinnikinnick, Snowberry, Oregon grape, Ceanothus: redstem; 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.