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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 36.6980, -76.6325

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in fall (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 58th, fall 25th)
  • Virginia: 79th percentile (spring 67th, summer 75th, fall 41st)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 45th percentile (spring 57th, summer 60th, fall 61st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.