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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 37.2345, -82.0970

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.22 mi SW.

Ranking

Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 88th, summer 27th, fall 47th)
Virginia: 52nd percentile (spring 84th, summer 11th, fall 82nd)
Central Appalachians: 60th percentile (spring 58th, summer 45th, fall 66th)

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 May 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
Season ends: Oct 31

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; 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

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.