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 38.4954, -77.8894

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 79th, summer 78th, fall 23rd)
  • Virginia: 92nd percentile (spring 51st, summer 95th, fall 38th)
  • Northern Piedmont: 58th percentile (spring 46th, summer 71st, fall 2nd)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,292 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,287 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 152 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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