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 39.8654, -79.0642

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.0 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 54th percentile (spring 67th, summer 60th, fall 62nd)
  • Pennsylvania: 56th percentile (spring 68th, summer 55th, fall 89th)
  • Central Appalachians: 50th percentile (spring 17th, summer 95th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.