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 42.3205, -77.7383

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (63rd percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 2 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: 49th percentile (spring 60th, summer 62nd, fall 60th)
  • New York: 39th percentile (spring 44th, summer 44th, fall 63rd)
  • Northern Allegheny Plateau: 65th percentile (spring 78th, summer 61st, fall 56th)

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)
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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