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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 37.9897, -78.9417

Estimated forage here is better than about 40% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.3 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.4 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi E.

Ranking

Continental US: 51st percentile (spring 80th, summer 37th, fall 47th)
Virginia: 40th percentile (spring 54th, summer 38th, fall 82nd)
Blue Ridge: 34th percentile (spring 17th, summer 76th, fall 71st)

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)
Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

Corn: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.