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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 41.7125, -75.4820

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Pennsylvania. Against other Pennsylvania sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in spring (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.5 mi SW, 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: 46th percentile (spring 58th, summer 60th, fall 61st)
  • Pennsylvania: 42nd percentile (spring 31st, summer 54th, fall 86th)
  • Northern Allegheny Plateau: 57th percentile (spring 66th, summer 55th, fall 62nd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Pennsylvania, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs; extra 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.