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 40.4932, -107.2619

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (83rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); safflower (nearest 1.8 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 48th, summer 84th, fall 98th)
  • Colorado: 98th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 96th, fall 97th)
  • Wyoming Basin: 100th percentile (spring 100th, summer 100th, fall 99th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 371 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 238 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 252 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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