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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 41.2172, -74.8246

Estimated forage here is better than about 38% of sites in New Jersey. Against other New Jersey sites it ranks highest in spring (48th percentile) and lowest in fall (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 2.0 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 58th, fall 54th)
  • New Jersey: 38th percentile (spring 48th, summer 42nd, fall 31st)
  • Ridge and Valley: 48th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 72nd, fall 85th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, 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, Summer-flowering shrubs, Soybeans, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, AE) 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.