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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 39.8851, -79.2094

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (63rd percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 50th percentile (spring 61st, summer 64th, fall 49th)
  • Pennsylvania: 50th percentile (spring 46th, summer 63rd, fall 42nd)
  • Central Appalachians: 35th percentile (spring 6th, summer 97th, fall 77th)

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 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 158 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.