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 36.7068, -78.2312

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (8th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, 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 74th, summer 78th, fall 8th)
Virginia: 89th percentile (spring 30th, summer 95th, fall 8th)
Piedmont: 86th percentile (spring 24th, summer 99th, fall 40th)

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: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 99 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
Corn: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
Soybeans: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; extra light amber

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.