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 38.3697, -81.7343

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in spring (67th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 90th, summer 47th, fall 51st)
West Virginia: 87th percentile (spring 67th, summer 89th, fall 90th)
Western Allegheny Plateau: 58th percentile (spring 57th, summer 51st, fall 81st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across West 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

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

Things to watch

Heavily developed. About 60% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.