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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 40.1601, -78.2320

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.9 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 3.5 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 51st percentile (spring 75th, summer 44th, fall 59th)
  • Pennsylvania: 51st percentile (spring 84th, summer 27th, fall 81st)
  • Central Appalachians: 36th percentile (spring 25th, summer 80th, fall 95th)

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 Jun 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), 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.