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 38.0331, -81.0725

Estimated forage here is better than about 57% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in spring (44th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 58th percentile (spring 86th, summer 38th, fall 48th)
  • West Virginia: 57th percentile (spring 44th, summer 64th, fall 80th)
  • Central Appalachians: 72nd percentile (spring 48th, summer 69th, fall 76th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across West Virginia, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

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, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion; 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.