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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.

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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 35.3609, -81.6210

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 67th, fall 6th)
  • North Carolina: 80th percentile (spring 77th, summer 80th, fall 13th)
  • Piedmont: 93rd percentile (spring 86th, summer 96th, fall 33rd)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 128 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.

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.