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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 36.6837, -78.2741

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 69th, fall 14th)
Virginia: 87th percentile (spring 65th, summer 88th, fall 21st)
Piedmont: 84th percentile (spring 54th, summer 97th, fall 67th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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.