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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 46.6816, -68.1507

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Maine. Against other Maine sites it stands out most in summer and fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sunflower (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 35th, summer 78th, fall 97th)
  • Maine: 96th percentile (spring 4th, summer 99th, fall 99th)
  • Acadian Plains and Hills: 98th percentile (spring 3rd, summer 99th, fall 99th)

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 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa, Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sunflower: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Alfalfa: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Canola: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 105 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 190 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Clover/Wildflowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clover/Wildflowers, Canola, Sunflower; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clover/Wildflowers, Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.