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 40.0652, -74.5275

Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in New Jersey. Against other New Jersey sites it stands out most in summer (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 76th, summer 76th, fall 55th)
  • New Jersey: 68th percentile (spring 56th, summer 86th, fall 36th)
  • Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens: 68th percentile (spring 60th, summer 84th, fall 30th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 179 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 107 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 113 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

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