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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 38.3971, -79.9200

Estimated forage here is better than about 24% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 2.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.6 mi E). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.22 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 75th, summer 43rd, fall 55th)
  • West Virginia: 24th percentile (spring 19th, summer 82nd, fall 96th)
  • Central Appalachians: 31st percentile (spring 25th, summer 79th, fall 89th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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