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 41.8643, -120.1596

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 53rd percentile (spring 43rd, summer 73rd, fall 81st)
  • California: 52nd percentile (spring 35th, summer 97th, fall 98th)
  • Northern Basin and Range: 95th percentile (spring 97th, summer 95th, fall 41st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,406 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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