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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 39.5087, -77.6591

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in summer (68th percentile) and lowest in fall (58th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi W, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 79th, summer 80th, fall 50th)
  • Maryland: 67th percentile (spring 61st, summer 68th, fall 58th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 94th percentile (spring 57th, summer 93rd, fall 71st)

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: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 267 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) 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.