Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 42.2774, -74.9189

Estimated forage here is better than about 41% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.5 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.18 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 57th, summer 64th, fall 63rd)
  • New York: 41st percentile (spring 36th, summer 51st, fall 75th)
  • Northern Allegheny Plateau: 66th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 68th, fall 74th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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