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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.

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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 38.5116, -76.6782

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (62nd percentile) and lowest in fall (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.8 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 76th, summer 77th, fall 40th)
  • Maryland: 51st percentile (spring 53rd, summer 62nd, fall 34th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 61st percentile (spring 36th, summer 77th, fall 83rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE, VE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.