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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 42.0638, -71.2476

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Massachusetts. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Massachusetts sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 2.8 mi SW); corn (nearest 2.9 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cranberries (nearest 2.7 mi SW). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi SE. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 74th, summer 63rd, fall 65th)
  • Massachusetts: 81st percentile (spring 75th, summer 79th, fall 76th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 76th percentile (spring 75th, summer 74th, fall 75th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Massachusetts, 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
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi SW, blooms late Apr – early May
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Cranberries: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Squash: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Oct
  • Squash: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 72% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.

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.