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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 38.6656, -82.1716

Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (5th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.8 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 61st percentile (spring 66th, summer 70th, fall 34th)
  • West Virginia: 68th percentile (spring 5th, summer 99th, fall 15th)
  • Western Allegheny Plateau: 33rd percentile (spring 4th, summer 90th, fall 6th)

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: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 252 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.