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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 37.4434, -76.3277

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.9 mi N); corn (nearest 1.0 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 89th, summer 44th, fall 13th)
  • Virginia: 74th percentile (spring 89th, summer 54th, fall 20th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 40th percentile (spring 76th, summer 49th, fall 30th)

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), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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