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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.

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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 39.4602, -79.2346

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.6 mi N, 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: 44th percentile (spring 66th, summer 48th, fall 56th)
  • Maryland: 7th percentile (spring 27th, summer 16th, fall 79th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 24th percentile (spring 24th, summer 60th, fall 90th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – 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, Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light 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

  • 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.