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 42.8218, -77.6418

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 4 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: 82nd percentile (spring 53rd, summer 87th, fall 73rd)
  • New York: 97th percentile (spring 22nd, summer 98th, fall 94th)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 93rd percentile (spring 18th, summer 94th, fall 86th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 888 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; 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.