Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 40.4649, -78.2035

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 77th, fall 48th)
  • Pennsylvania: 74th percentile (spring 49th, summer 85th, fall 37th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 69th percentile (spring 17th, summer 90th, fall 64th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Pennsylvania, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 846 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,071 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 152 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late 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), Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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, Soybeans, Alfalfa; 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.