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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 40.1423, -120.1414

Estimated forage here is better than about 58% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.83 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 60th percentile (spring 58th, summer 66th, fall 94th)
  • California: 58th percentile (spring 41st, summer 91st, fall 100th)
  • Central Basin and Range: 95th percentile (spring 97th, summer 92nd, 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 1 — Dandelion, Weedy mustards
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Sep 15 — Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Oct 1 to Oct 31 — Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 933 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Weedy mustards, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Alfalfa, Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Green/yellow rabbitbrush, Rubber rabbitbrush, Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Green/yellow rabbitbrush; 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.