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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 39.0414, -76.0618

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 89th, fall 36th)
  • Maryland: 94th percentile (spring 46th, summer 88th, fall 28th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 93rd percentile (spring 30th, summer 92nd, fall 77th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 508 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 707 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 394 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 448 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,562 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.