Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 38.4129, -78.7276

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in summer (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.6 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 85th, summer 44th, fall 52nd)
  • Virginia: 65th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 55th, fall 95th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 59th percentile (spring 69th, summer 54th, fall 81st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across 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 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug

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