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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 38.9530, -75.8839

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.0 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.31 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 57th, summer 92nd, fall 20th)
  • Maryland: 98th percentile (spring 15th, summer 95th, fall 13th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 96th percentile (spring 8th, summer 98th, fall 52nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 3,830 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 246 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 556 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 471 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 591 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% 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.
  • 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.