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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 38.0228, -78.9515

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (87th percentile) and lowest in spring (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.22 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 79th, summer 67th, fall 45th)
  • Virginia: 82nd percentile (spring 53rd, summer 87th, fall 76th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 75th percentile (spring 57th, summer 84th, fall 54th)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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