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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 41.3880, -71.7645

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Rhode Island. Against other Rhode Island sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (60th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.5 mi S); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); squash (nearest 1.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.11 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 53rd percentile (spring 75th, summer 49th, fall 59th)
  • Rhode Island: 74th percentile (spring 90th, summer 60th, fall 64th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 57th percentile (spring 78th, summer 36th, fall 55th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Rhode Island, 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 trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 233 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 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 trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Squash: insecticides used on about 71% 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.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.