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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.

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 37.0710, -76.6707

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 71st percentile (spring 82nd, summer 66th, fall 19th)
  • Virginia: 84th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 85th, fall 33rd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 50th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 67th, fall 50th)

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 Jul 15 — Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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): Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Cotton; 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE, VE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.