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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 42.0393, -73.3337

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Connecticut. Against other Connecticut sites it stands out most in summer (66th percentile) and lowest in spring (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 43rd percentile (spring 61st, summer 55th, fall 51st)
  • Connecticut: 53rd percentile (spring 32nd, summer 66th, fall 52nd)
  • Northeastern Highlands: 43rd percentile (spring 46th, summer 33rd, fall 90th)

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

  • Corn: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; 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

  • 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.