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 37.2143, -80.6330

Estimated forage here is better than about 17% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (52nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.6 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 1.7 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.6 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 41st percentile (spring 74th, summer 31st, fall 35th)
  • Virginia: 17th percentile (spring 34th, summer 19th, fall 52nd)
  • Ridge and Valley: 20th percentile (spring 47th, summer 20th, fall 29th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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