Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 36.7096, -77.2003

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.2 mi NE); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.25 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 69th, summer 76th, fall 44th)
  • Virginia: 86th percentile (spring 15th, summer 94th, fall 74th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 79th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 95th, fall 96th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 31 — Cotton, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 391 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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