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 42.0547, -73.9166

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in spring (56th percentile) and lowest in summer (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 1.5 mi E); soybeans (nearest 1.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.0 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.14 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 43rd percentile (spring 64th, summer 48th, fall 56th)
  • New York: 30th percentile (spring 56th, summer 15th, fall 54th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 39th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 35th, fall 46th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across New York, 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Apples: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Pears: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms late Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Pears: 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.
  • 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.