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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.

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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 43.0843, -76.8721

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (61st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); apples (nearest 2.0 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.19 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 84th, fall 58th)
  • New York: 97th percentile (spring 79th, summer 95th, fall 61st)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 94th percentile (spring 76th, summer 86th, fall 42nd)

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 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 988 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 254 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.