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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 37.2709, -76.4989

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.4 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi NE. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 96th, summer 51st, fall 26th)
  • Virginia: 92nd percentile (spring 99th, summer 65th, fall 42nd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 66th percentile (spring 97th, summer 53rd, fall 63rd)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 171 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 61% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.