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 40.0652, -105.9180

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in spring (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 26th, summer 73rd, fall 93rd)
  • Colorado: 73rd percentile (spring 40th, summer 75th, fall 89th)
  • Southern Rockies: 77th percentile (spring 70th, summer 70th, fall 85th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Willows
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Native wildflowers
  • Fall flow: Sep 16 to Sep 30 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – early Oct

What the honey would be made of

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