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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 40.0804, -77.8996

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in spring (78th percentile) and lowest in fall (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 70th, summer 61st, fall 52nd)
  • Pennsylvania: 60th percentile (spring 78th, summer 56th, fall 55th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 50th percentile (spring 36th, summer 76th, fall 79th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 124 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 107 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Jul

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