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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 41.0520, -74.7550

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in New Jersey. Against other New Jersey sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.5 mi NW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 67th, fall 66th)
  • New Jersey: 63rd percentile (spring 70th, summer 62nd, fall 82nd)
  • Ridge and Valley: 81st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 83rd, fall 99th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across New Jersey, 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 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi N, 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, 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, Garden flowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 64% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

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.