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 39.7857, -76.9929

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Pennsylvania. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Pennsylvania sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 84th, summer 78th, fall 63rd)
  • Pennsylvania: 96th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 88th, fall 91st)
  • Northern Piedmont: 77th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 73rd, fall 82nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 175 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 295 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans; 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); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 62% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, 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.