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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 39.4537, -78.9710

Estimated forage here is better than about 26% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.41 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 85th, summer 49th, fall 56th)
  • Maryland: 26th percentile (spring 77th, summer 17th, fall 79th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 64th percentile (spring 70th, summer 62nd, fall 90th)

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: Apr 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.