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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 37.8008, -79.7921

Estimated forage here is better than about 48% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 3.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.16 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 54th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 37th, fall 44th)
  • Virginia: 48th percentile (spring 67th, summer 36th, fall 75th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 46th percentile (spring 65th, summer 35th, fall 52nd)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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