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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 40.6580, -78.2518

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi SE, 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: 59th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 61st, fall 60th)
  • Pennsylvania: 63rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 56th, fall 82nd)
  • Ridge and Valley: 55th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 76th, fall 95th)

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 Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,986 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, 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), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.