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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 43.7917, -70.6149

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Maine. Against other Maine sites it stands out most in spring (53rd percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.3 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 3.7 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 22nd percentile (spring 52nd, summer 40th, fall 22nd)
  • Maine: 25th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 11th, fall 44th)
  • Northeastern Coastal Zone: 6th percentile (spring 5th, summer 16th, fall 4th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sweet corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Native wildflowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.