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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 41.9216, -71.9832

Estimated forage here is better than about 26% of sites in Connecticut. Against other Connecticut sites it ranks highest in summer (46th percentile) and lowest in spring (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.5 mi NW); corn (nearest 0.3 mi E). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 28th percentile (spring 56th, summer 46th, fall 38th)
  • Connecticut: 26th percentile (spring 9th, summer 46th, fall 27th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 18th percentile (spring 12th, summer 29th, fall 16th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early May – late May
  • Corn: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-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, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing 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.