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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 39.8121, -77.1361

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 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: 88th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 90th, fall 43rd)
  • Pennsylvania: 100th percentile (spring 54th, summer 100th, fall 23rd)
  • Northern Piedmont: 98th percentile (spring 16th, summer 99th, fall 25th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 263 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 845 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 239 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 248 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 423 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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