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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 34.0381, -78.0871

Estimated forage here is better than about 29% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it ranks highest in fall (46th percentile) and lowest in summer (2nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.8 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.8 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 10th, fall 15th)
  • North Carolina: 29th percentile (spring 28th, summer 2nd, fall 46th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 28th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 6th, fall 39th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across North Carolina, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Apr 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi N, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi N, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

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.