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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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 36.6178, -78.5654

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 89th, summer 41st, fall 17th)
  • Virginia: 69th percentile (spring 88th, summer 47th, fall 31st)
  • Piedmont: 67th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 70th, fall 78th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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