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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 39.5095, -78.9159

Estimated forage here is better than about 20% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in spring (62nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 2.5 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.27 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 59th percentile (spring 80th, summer 52nd, fall 47th)
  • Maryland: 20th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 19th, fall 50th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 55th percentile (spring 57th, summer 65th, fall 62nd)

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)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.