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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 37.2425, -81.1083

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (83rd percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.6 mi SW); alfalfa (nearest 2.6 mi S). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 85th, summer 38th, fall 47th)
  • Virginia: 55th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 40th, fall 83rd)
  • Ridge and Valley: 50th percentile (spring 69th, summer 39th, fall 62nd)

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: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi S, 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, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; 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): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) 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.