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 42.8035, -73.8879

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in New York. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other New York sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.0 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 2.2 mi NE); alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi N. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 79th, fall 87th)
  • New York: 100th percentile (spring 99th, summer 90th, fall 99th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 100th percentile (spring 99th, summer 100th, fall 100th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Apples: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 94% 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. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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.

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.