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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.

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 39.8852, -77.1528

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.13 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 85th, fall 44th)
  • Pennsylvania: 93rd percentile (spring 52nd, summer 95th, fall 25th)
  • Northern Piedmont: 68th percentile (spring 15th, summer 89th, fall 26th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 198 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

  • 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.