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.
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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 42.4143, -77.4236
Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 1 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: 64th percentile (spring 57th, summer 74th, fall 78th)
- New York: 68th percentile (spring 35th, summer 80th, fall 97th)
- Northern Allegheny Plateau: 90th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 88th, fall 98th)
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 Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
- Season ends: Oct 15
Bee crops nearby
- Corn: about 311 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
- Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
- Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
- Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
- Corn: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
- Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 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, Soybeans, Clover/Wildflowers, Alfalfa; extra light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Buckwheat; extra light amber
- Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clover/Wildflowers; extra 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.