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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 38.8500, -82.9089

Estimated forage here is better than about 14% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.8 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 2.4 mi NW). 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: 69th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 45th, fall 50th)
  • Ohio: 14th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 9th, fall 75th)
  • Western Allegheny Plateau: 61st percentile (spring 66th, summer 47th, fall 75th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 205 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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.
  • 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.