Honey bee forage in Palenville, New York

When is the honey flow in Palenville?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jun 30, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), spring-flowering shrubs)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Palenville, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 15.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), spring-flowering shrubs, summer-flowering shrubs; light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), dandelion; extra light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Fall honey (September to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), summer-flowering shrubs; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering shrubs, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Sweet corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Palenville

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.32 mi E; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.53 mi E.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024); Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

How Palenville ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 89% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Haines Falls 4 mi · Round Top 5 mi · Tannersville 5 mi · Cementon 7 mi · South Cairo 7 mi · Malden-on-Hudson 8 mi

All towns in New York · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Palenville (42.1857, -74.029); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.