Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 39.7664, -75.4059

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in New Jersey. Against other New Jersey sites it stands out most in summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in spring (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); squash (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 50th, summer 75th, fall 54th)
  • New Jersey: 39th percentile (spring 11th, summer 83rd, fall 32nd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 28th percentile (spring 5th, summer 75th, fall 95th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 132 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Squash: insecticides used on about 71% of surveyed US acres (2024); Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.