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 38.7780, -79.8912

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.2 mi W, grown 1 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: 63rd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 54th, fall 60th)
  • West Virginia: 75th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 94th, fall 99th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 63rd percentile (spring 63rd, summer 68th, fall 96th)

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: Apr 1 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs; extra 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.