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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 39.3772, -81.2644

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (71st percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 0.8 mi NW, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 59th percentile (spring 87th, summer 39th, fall 40th)
  • West Virginia: 60th percentile (spring 47th, summer 71st, fall 35th)
  • Western Allegheny Plateau: 28th percentile (spring 39th, summer 36th, fall 23rd)

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 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Sweet corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Sweet corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, 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, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light 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

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.