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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 40.9358, -102.5246

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in spring and summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi W); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 60th, summer 83rd, fall 51st)
  • Colorado: 97th percentile (spring 95th, summer 95th, fall 17th)
  • High Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 84th, summer 90th, fall 40th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2,593 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 210 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 171 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 325 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 334 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.