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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 40.5539, -81.9167

Estimated forage here is better than about 32% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.22 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 81st, summer 76th, fall 60th)
  • Ohio: 32nd percentile (spring 61st, summer 37th, fall 90th)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 56th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 50th, fall 79th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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

  • Heavily developed. About 52% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.