Honey bee forage in Pen Mar, Pennsylvania

When is the honey flow in Pen Mar?

• First forage: Feb 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31, peaking late Apr (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, soybeans)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Pen Mar, 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 Apr 29.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), soybeans; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), dandelion, garden flowers; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, soybeans, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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 545 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Apples: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early May

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 Pen Mar

Mostly: Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Central Appalachian Dry Oak Forest; Developed, low intensity (houses and yards).

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.15 mi S; pond, lake or river 0.29 mi W.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Peaches: insecticides used on about 86% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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 Pen Mar ranks

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

About 57% 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

Rouzerville 1 mi · Wayne Heights 2 mi · Blue Ridge Summit 3 mi · Waynesboro 4 mi · Carroll Valley 7 mi · Mont Alto 8 mi

All towns in Pennsylvania · 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 Pen Mar (39.7263, -77.516); 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.