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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 40.8962, -81.3337

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.17 mi SW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 88th, summer 84th, fall 71st)
  • Ohio: 56th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 47th, fall 97th)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 91st percentile (spring 93rd, summer 73rd, fall 92nd)

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 776 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra 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; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.