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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.

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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 38.7472, -81.9565

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.13 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 74th, summer 76th, fall 37th)
  • West Virginia: 96th percentile (spring 18th, summer 99th, fall 24th)
  • Western Allegheny Plateau: 79th percentile (spring 12th, summer 96th, fall 12th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across West 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 Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,335 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 142 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 216 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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