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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 42.8200, -72.5815

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Vermont. Against other Vermont sites it stands out most in fall (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.4 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 2.7 mi NW); alfalfa (nearest 2.7 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 31st percentile (spring 56th, summer 47th, fall 45th)
  • Vermont: 7th percentile (spring 17th, summer 4th, fall 72nd)
  • Northeastern Highlands: 23rd percentile (spring 31st, summer 16th, fall 84th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Vermont, 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 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Apples: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms early May – late May
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late 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, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.
  • 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.