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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.

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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 40.5805, -102.2949

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi S); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.26 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 80th, fall 56th)
  • Colorado: 95th percentile (spring 97th, summer 91st, fall 23rd)
  • High Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 87th, summer 87th, fall 47th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,288 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 352 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,570 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,851 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,196 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.