Arcadia Bees
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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 38.9753, -78.0473

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in Virginia. Against other Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 3.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 3.5 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 88th, summer 41st, fall 51st)
  • Virginia: 69th percentile (spring 87th, summer 47th, fall 94th)
  • Blue Ridge: 74th percentile (spring 57th, summer 82nd, fall 94th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across 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 Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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