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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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 38.7376, -78.6500

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.32 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 73rd, summer 83rd, fall 44th)
  • Virginia: 95th percentile (spring 28th, summer 98th, fall 75th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 95th percentile (spring 44th, summer 95th, fall 53rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 355 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 591 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 161 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.