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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 37.2256, -76.9668

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in fall (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.0 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cucumbers (nearest 1.6 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 84th, summer 50th, fall 23rd)
  • Virginia: 72nd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 64th, fall 39th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 67th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 78th, fall 80th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 372 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 799 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 193 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cucumbers: insecticides used on about 36% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.