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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 36.6322, -81.7899

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 1.6 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 3.5 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 38th, fall 45th)
  • Virginia: 75th percentile (spring 94th, summer 40th, fall 77th)
  • Blue Ridge: 81st percentile (spring 76th, summer 77th, fall 62nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Sorghum: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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