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 47.2279, -68.3740

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Maine. Against other Maine sites it stands out most in summer and fall (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: clover and wildflowers (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 1.0 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 44th, summer 90th, fall 100th)
  • Maine: 100th percentile (spring 25th, summer 100th, fall 100th)
  • Acadian Plains and Hills: 100th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 100th, fall 100th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Oct 15 — Clover/Wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Clover and wildflowers: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 154 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late May – late Oct

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.