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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 39.4947, -79.8162

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in West Virginia. Against other West Virginia sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (76th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.9 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 60th, fall 56th)
  • West Virginia: 96th percentile (spring 76th, summer 97th, fall 98th)
  • Central Appalachians: 99th percentile (spring 87th, summer 95th, fall 92nd)

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

  • Soybeans: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – 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, Summer-flowering shrubs, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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.