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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 40.1042, -78.9531

Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in fall (85th percentile) and lowest in summer (66th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 71st, summer 65th, fall 61st)
  • Pennsylvania: 68th percentile (spring 79th, summer 66th, fall 85th)
  • Central Appalachians: 87th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 97th, fall 97th)

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 Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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