Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 41.3029, -80.8524

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Ohio. Against other Ohio sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in summer (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi SW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 90th, summer 76th, fall 69th)
  • Ohio: 43rd percentile (spring 79th, summer 38th, fall 96th)
  • Erie Drift Plain: 72nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 51st, fall 91st)

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 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, 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 trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 59% 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.