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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 41.2339, -80.6542

Estimated forage here is better than about 29% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 2 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: 76th percentile (spring 87th, summer 69th, fall 63rd)
  • Ohio: 29th percentile (spring 70th, summer 30th, fall 93rd)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 53rd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 32nd, fall 86th)

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 Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late 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, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 56% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.