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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 43.1539, -75.3330

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in New York. Against other New York sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in spring (61st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NE); corn (nearest 0.4 mi NE); soybeans (nearest 1.2 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 66th, summer 68th, fall 66th)
  • New York: 65th percentile (spring 61st, summer 66th, fall 82nd)
  • Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands: 33rd percentile (spring 55th, summer 32nd, fall 67th)

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

  • Alfalfa: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 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), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; 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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.