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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 40.8853, -80.3392

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in spring (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (57th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, 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: 60th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 64th, fall 52nd)
  • Pennsylvania: 65th percentile (spring 80th, summer 64th, fall 57th)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 29th percentile (spring 67th, summer 20th, fall 62nd)

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 1 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; 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.