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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 35.3807, -82.5880

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (57th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi SE); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.8 mi NE, 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: 72nd percentile (spring 94th, summer 49th, fall 34th)
  • North Carolina: 62nd percentile (spring 81st, summer 57th, fall 74th)
  • Blue Ridge: 94th percentile (spring 87th, summer 92nd, fall 20th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.

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.