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 39.8575, -84.7906

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi N, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 86th, fall 56th)
  • Ohio: 53rd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 50th, fall 86th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 16th percentile (spring 88th, summer 14th, fall 91st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,663 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 457 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,151 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,050 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.