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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 40.3829, -78.1698

Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (70th percentile) and lowest in fall (49th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 4 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: 57th percentile (spring 64th, summer 67th, fall 51st)
  • Pennsylvania: 61st percentile (spring 58th, summer 70th, fall 49th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 50th percentile (spring 21st, summer 84th, fall 74th)

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), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,077 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – late 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; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra 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.