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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 39.6717, -78.8263

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Maryland. Against other Maryland sites it stands out most in fall (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 2.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 3.0 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi E.

Ranking

Continental US: 44th percentile (spring 69th, summer 39th, fall 57th)
Maryland: 7th percentile (spring 38th, summer 6th, fall 81st)
Ridge and Valley: 24th percentile (spring 35th, summer 43rd, fall 92nd)

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 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs
Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

Sunflower: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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