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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.

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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 41.0342, -77.3013

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in fall (81st percentile) and lowest in spring (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 57th, summer 72nd, fall 60th)
  • Pennsylvania: 60th percentile (spring 26th, summer 77th, fall 81st)
  • Ridge and Valley: 50th percentile (spring 7th, summer 87th, 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 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 244 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 662 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, 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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.