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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 42.9632, -78.8706

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 3.0 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 1.14 mi E. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 57th, summer 67th, fall 77th)
  • New York: 53rd percentile (spring 37th, summer 63rd, fall 96th)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 22nd percentile (spring 28th, summer 29th, fall 92nd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 30 — Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 100% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • No mapped water within a mile. Plan to provide water. Small ponds, ditches, troughs and pools don't show on these maps.

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.