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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 39.1706, -74.8056

Estimated forage here is better than about 44% of sites in New Jersey. Against other New Jersey sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: blueberries (nearest 1.7 mi E); soybeans (nearest 1.8 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.0 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 45th, fall 56th)
  • New Jersey: 44th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 27th, fall 43rd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 33rd percentile (spring 58th, summer 50th, fall 96th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across New Jersey, 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, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Blueberries: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Blueberries: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Blueberries: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi E, 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 shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Blueberries: insecticides used on about 74% of surveyed US acres (2025); 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.