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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 35.0020, -78.3322

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (71st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.29 mi SW. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 97th, summer 60th, fall 32nd)
  • North Carolina: 94th percentile (spring 98th, summer 71st, fall 73rd)
  • Southeastern Plains: 96th percentile (spring 99th, summer 85th, fall 88th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 141 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cotton; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 80% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.
  • 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.