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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 42.8294, -78.6352

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (85th percentile) and lowest in spring (67th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 68th, summer 72nd, fall 68th)
  • New York: 77th percentile (spring 67th, summer 76th, fall 85th)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 48th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 46th, fall 74th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.