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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 39.4157, -77.7367

Estimated forage here is better than about 40% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in spring (64th percentile) and lowest in summer (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.3 mi W, 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: 72nd percentile (spring 80th, summer 70th, fall 49th)
  • Maryland: 40th percentile (spring 64th, summer 51st, fall 56th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 80th percentile (spring 59th, summer 86th, fall 68th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Maryland, 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 Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 165 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 111 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.