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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.

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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 37.2940, -75.9632

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); rapeseed (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 95th, summer 89th, fall 17th)
  • Virginia: 100th percentile (spring 98th, summer 100th, fall 29th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 99th percentile (spring 95th, summer 93rd, fall 44th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Virginia, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 178 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Rapeseed: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Soybeans: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Rapeseed: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Rapeseed: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Soybeans: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Rape Seed, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Rape Seed, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% 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.

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.