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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 43.0785, -75.7098

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer (84th percentile) and lowest in spring (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 66th, summer 76th, fall 66th)
  • New York: 82nd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 84th, fall 82nd)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 57th percentile (spring 55th, summer 61st, fall 68th)

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 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 248 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

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): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.