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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 40.4088, -78.2086

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in spring (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 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: 64th percentile (spring 45th, summer 81st, fall 38th)
  • Pennsylvania: 70th percentile (spring 3rd, summer 91st, fall 13th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 64th percentile (spring 1st, summer 94th, fall 33rd)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 993 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 361 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 355 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion; 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.