Honey bee forage in St. Bonaventure, New York

When is the honey flow in St. Bonaventure?

• First forage: Mar 16 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31, peaking late May (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of St. Bonaventure, 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): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers, summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Buckwheat: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Oct (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 St. Bonaventure

Mostly: Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest; Appalachian (Hemlock)-Northern Hardwood Forest; Eastern Cool Temperate Pasture and Hayland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.25 mi SW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.31 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Heavily developed. About 51% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

How St. Bonaventure ranks

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

About 51% 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

Allegany 1 mi · Olean 2 mi · Weston Mills 5 mi · Portville 8 mi · Limestone 9 mi · Cuba 14 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 St. Bonaventure (42.0794, -78.4742); 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.