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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 41.1117, -77.7056

Estimated forage here is better than about 23% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in spring (57th percentile) and lowest in summer (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.7 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 3.3 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 3.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 33rd percentile (spring 64th, summer 37th, fall 50th)
  • Pennsylvania: 23rd percentile (spring 57th, summer 13th, fall 44th)
  • Central Appalachians: 6th percentile (spring 11th, summer 68th, fall 79th)

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)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Spring-flowering shrubs; 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.