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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 41.8874, -121.3610

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in California. Against other California sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (43rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); mint (nearest 0.9 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 84th, fall 79th)
  • California: 77th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 100th, fall 98th)
  • Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills: 94th percentile (spring 85th, summer 92nd, fall 88th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 3,120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3,799 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 219 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 566 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 141 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Mint: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Oct

What the honey would be made of

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