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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 39.3975, -81.4559

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (67th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.0 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 57th, fall 54th)
  • West Virginia: 93rd percentile (spring 67th, summer 96th, fall 95th)
  • Western Allegheny Plateau: 71st percentile (spring 58th, summer 67th, fall 88th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, 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, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 52% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.