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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 40.2789, -75.8569

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 3.4 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 59th, fall 60th)
  • Pennsylvania: 74th percentile (spring 91st, summer 52nd, fall 81st)
  • Northern Piedmont: 24th percentile (spring 56th, summer 20th, fall 71st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Pennsylvania, 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 Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Pumpkins: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Pumpkins: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Oct

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

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.