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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 40.6356, -78.8577

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in summer (71st percentile) and lowest in spring (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 68th, fall 51st)
  • Pennsylvania: 59th percentile (spring 47th, summer 71st, fall 51st)
  • Central Appalachians: 59th percentile (spring 7th, summer 98th, fall 83rd)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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