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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 42.2409, -73.3548

Estimated forage here is better than about 33% of sites in Massachusetts. Against other Massachusetts sites it ranks highest in fall (45th percentile) and lowest in spring (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.14 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 38th percentile (spring 60th, summer 49th, fall 50th)
  • Massachusetts: 33rd percentile (spring 30th, summer 39th, fall 45th)
  • Northeastern Highlands: 33rd percentile (spring 42nd, summer 20th, fall 89th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Sweet corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.
  • 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.