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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 36.9360, -80.7194

Estimated forage here is better than about 34% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 1.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 3.0 mi NW, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 30th, fall 43rd)
  • Virginia: 34th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 17th, fall 72nd)
  • Blue Ridge: 26th percentile (spring 24th, summer 57th, fall 53rd)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Millet: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Millet: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Millet: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Sorghum: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 58% of surveyed US acres (2021); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 56% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% 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.