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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 42.2277, -72.0517

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in Massachusetts. Against other Massachusetts sites it stands out most in fall (50th percentile) and lowest in spring (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.6 mi SW); soybeans (nearest 3.3 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 39th percentile (spring 61st, summer 49th, fall 53rd)
  • Massachusetts: 35th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 39th, fall 50th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 33rd percentile (spring 28th, summer 38th, fall 40th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Massachusetts, 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)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

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, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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

  • 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.