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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 39.3358, -78.9217

Estimated forage here is better than about 24% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in spring (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 2.0 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 49th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 46th, fall 49th)
  • West Virginia: 24th percentile (spring 15th, summer 88th, fall 84th)
  • Ridge and Valley: 36th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 57th, fall 69th)

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 Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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); 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.