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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 40.7109, -81.6077

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, 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: 79th percentile (spring 80th, summer 78th, fall 58th)
  • Ohio: 36th percentile (spring 60th, summer 40th, fall 88th)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 59th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 55th, fall 76th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, 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, Alfalfa, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.