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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 37.5494, -75.7997

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 78th, summer 87th, fall 14th)
  • Virginia: 99th percentile (spring 49th, summer 99th, fall 21st)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 91st percentile (spring 42nd, summer 90th, fall 32nd)

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
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 234 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 327 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 295 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 96 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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