Honey bee forage in Richlands, North Carolina

When is the honey flow in Richlands?

• First forage: Jan 16 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15, peaking late May (soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Aug 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Richlands, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Mar 18.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), garden flowers; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
• Whole season (March to November): soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Soybeans: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 179 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late May – late Jun (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Richlands

Mostly: Southeastern Native Ruderal Forest; Southeastern North American Temperate Forest Plantation; Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin and Canebrake Woodland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.19 mi E; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.25 mi E.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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.

How Richlands ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 37% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Half Moon 7 mi · Potters Hill 10 mi · Pumpkin Center 13 mi · Beulaville 13 mi · Jacksonville 14 mi · Trenton 16 mi

All towns in North Carolina · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Richlands (34.8985, -77.5419); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.