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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 38.4903, -76.7017

Estimated forage here is better than about 40% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.9 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 1.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 89th, summer 59th, fall 50th)
  • Maryland: 40th percentile (spring 84th, summer 27th, fall 60th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 78th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 84th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 219 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans; 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.