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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 39.4735, -77.3632

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in spring (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 67th, summer 89th, fall 42nd)
  • Maryland: 92nd percentile (spring 30th, summer 89th, fall 36th)
  • Northern Piedmont: 99th percentile (spring 20th, summer 98th, fall 21st)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 622 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 181 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 821 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 287 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra 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.