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 42.8322, -77.8770

Estimated forage here is better than about 91% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in spring (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 59th, summer 84th, fall 62nd)
  • New York: 91st percentile (spring 40th, summer 95th, fall 70th)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 77th percentile (spring 31st, summer 85th, fall 52nd)

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: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 336 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,945 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 936 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, 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), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Soybeans; 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.