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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 38.5376, -75.7184

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in spring (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); watermelons (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.3 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 80th, summer 85th, fall 54th)
  • Maryland: 87th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 78th, fall 72nd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 87th percentile (spring 46th, summer 86th, fall 95th)

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: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 239 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,455 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,106 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% 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.

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.