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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 42.4826, -72.5903

Estimated forage here is better than about 31% of sites in Massachusetts. Against other Massachusetts sites it stands out most in fall (51st percentile) and lowest in spring (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sweet corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 36th percentile (spring 55th, summer 52nd, fall 54th)
  • Massachusetts: 31st percentile (spring 16th, summer 47th, fall 51st)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 28th percentile (spring 10th, summer 46th, fall 42nd)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Sweet corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sweet corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early 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): 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, Squash; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), 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.