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 40.3799, -120.5858

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (49th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 1.3 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 74th, summer 79th, fall 79th)
  • California: 75th percentile (spring 49th, summer 99th, fall 98th)
  • Central Basin and Range: 99th percentile (spring 99th, summer 97th, fall 64th)

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
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,264 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 351 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 597 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.