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 42.8989, -78.4923

Estimated forage here is better than about 73% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (81st percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.0 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.2 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.19 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 69th, summer 70th, fall 66th)
  • New York: 73rd percentile (spring 70th, summer 70th, fall 81st)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 42nd percentile (spring 66th, summer 37th, fall 66th)

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 Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Peas: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 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), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Alfalfa; extra light amber

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.