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 42.6565, -71.1420
Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Massachusetts. Against other Massachusetts sites it stands out most in summer (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (81st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.9 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 2.9 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 2.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi W. 2 things to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 76th, summer 70th, fall 74th)
- Massachusetts: 95th percentile (spring 81st, summer 97th, fall 96th)
- Northeastern Coastal Zone: 90th percentile (spring 80th, summer 92nd, fall 95th)
Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Massachusetts, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.
Season
- First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
- Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
- Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers
- Season ends: Sep 30
Bee crops nearby
- Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
- Pumpkins: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Oct
- Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
- Sweet corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; extra light amber
- Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
Things to watch
- Heavily developed. About 79% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
- Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024); 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.