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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 39.9290, -77.2465

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 0.8 mi NW). 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: 75th percentile (spring 69th, summer 79th, fall 50th)
  • Pennsylvania: 85th percentile (spring 76th, summer 89th, fall 47th)
  • Northern Piedmont: 48th percentile (spring 26th, summer 75th, fall 44th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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, Dandelion, Garden flowers, 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

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.