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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 42.1747, -77.9786

Estimated forage here is better than about 54% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer and fall (74th percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 57th, summer 71st, fall 63rd)
  • New York: 54th percentile (spring 36th, summer 74th, fall 74th)
  • Northern Allegheny Plateau: 82nd percentile (spring 63rd, summer 84th, fall 73rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 504 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

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

Things to watch

  • 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.