For commercial apiarists, it's not about what's "nearby." Honey is really just a side business for them; most of their money comes from pollination. They take the hives to the pollinating crops, hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles.

Travel stress is one of the many things that's implicated in colony collapse disorder. Beekeepers with just a few stationary hives, such as sell in farmers' markets and local stores, usually differentiate their honeys by season, not by flower.