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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 38.7517, -76.9013

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.9 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 96th, summer 67th, fall 57th)
  • Maryland: 79th percentile (spring 99th, summer 44th, fall 81st)
  • Southeastern Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 89th, fall 100th)

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
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, 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 shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 68% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.