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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 39.9839, -76.8312

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Pennsylvania. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Pennsylvania sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 84th, fall 67th)
  • Pennsylvania: 100th percentile (spring 97th, summer 94th, fall 97th)
  • Northern Piedmont: 100th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 86th, fall 90th)

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 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 264 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 146 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 75% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.