Arcadia Bees
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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 45.1772, -69.3951

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Maine. Against other Maine sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in spring (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 0.4 mi SW); corn (nearest 1.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.4 mi SE, grown 2 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: 38th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 58th, fall 49th)
  • Maine: 60th percentile (spring 56th, summer 59th, fall 89th)
  • Acadian Plains and Hills: 69th percentile (spring 59th, summer 75th, fall 85th)

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), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late May – early Jun
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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