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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 42.2186, -78.0323

Estimated forage here is better than about 46% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (71st percentile) and lowest in spring (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, 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: 53rd percentile (spring 55th, summer 69th, fall 62nd)
  • New York: 46th percentile (spring 29th, summer 68th, fall 71st)
  • Northern Allegheny Plateau: 74th percentile (spring 51st, summer 81st, fall 68th)

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 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Peas: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Peas: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Peas: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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