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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 37.1013, -81.1166

Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (61st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.4 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.0 mi SW, grown 3 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: 59th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 48th, fall 51st)
  • Virginia: 61st percentile (spring 65th, summer 61st, fall 93rd)
  • Ridge and Valley: 55th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 60th, fall 75th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.