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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 35.3328, -81.7610

Estimated forage here is better than about 68% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SE); corn (nearest 1.2 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.33 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 95th, summer 49th, fall 10th)
  • North Carolina: 68th percentile (spring 89th, summer 57th, fall 26th)
  • Piedmont: 88th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 81st, fall 50th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms early May – late 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.