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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 42.9111, -77.7087

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (5th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 86th, fall 67th)
  • New York: 89th percentile (spring 5th, summer 96th, fall 84th)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 71st percentile (spring 6th, summer 90th, fall 71st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across New York, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,178 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 662 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 151 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 186 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 349 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Dry beans: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

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.