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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 42.2796, -72.9807

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Massachusetts. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Massachusetts sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 3.5 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); blueberries (nearest 3.7 mi N). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 31st percentile (spring 59th, summer 45th, fall 30th)
  • Massachusetts: 25th percentile (spring 27th, summer 29th, fall 21st)
  • Northeastern Highlands: 23rd percentile (spring 39th, summer 13th, fall 64th)

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)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Blueberries: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi N, blooms early May – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.