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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 42.1462, -73.5991

Estimated forage here is better than about 24% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (55th percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 39th percentile (spring 57th, summer 52nd, fall 56th)
  • New York: 24th percentile (spring 37th, summer 22nd, fall 55th)
  • Northeastern Highlands: 34th percentile (spring 35th, summer 26th, fall 93rd)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), 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, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), 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.