Honey bee forage in Carolina, Rhode Island

When is the honey flow in Carolina?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to Jun 30, peaking early May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Carolina, 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 May 7.

What the honey is 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, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), dandelion; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, summer-flowering shrubs; 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

• Corn: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Sweet corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 1 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 Carolina

Mostly: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Hardwood Forest; North-Central Appalachian Acidic Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Peat Swamp.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.02 mi S; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.02 mi E.

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.

How Carolina ranks

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

About 74% 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

Wyoming 4 mi · Hope Valley 5 mi · Charlestown 6 mi · Hopkinton 7 mi · Kingston 7 mi · Ashaway 7 mi

All towns in Rhode Island · 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 Carolina (41.4594, -71.6542); 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.