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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 41.0424, -121.4053

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% 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 NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); mint (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 2 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: 77th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 78th, fall 70th)
  • California: 73rd percentile (spring 49th, summer 99th, fall 96th)
  • Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills: 87th percentile (spring 91st, summer 72nd, fall 72nd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 239 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 193 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Mint: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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