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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 35.4753, -82.3523

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: apples (nearest 2.2 mi SE); grapes (nearest 1.3 mi E); corn (nearest 2.3 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 94th, summer 31st, fall 47th)
  • North Carolina: 50th percentile (spring 85th, summer 27th, fall 93rd)
  • Blue Ridge: 84th percentile (spring 91st, summer 58th, fall 74th)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to May 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Apples: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi SE, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SE, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr
  • Apples: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi S, blooms early Apr – late Apr

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes (all types): insecticides used on about 58% of surveyed US acres (2021); Grapes, wine type: insecticides used on about 56% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, table type: insecticides used on about 50% of surveyed US acres (2025); Grapes, raisin type: insecticides used on about 77% 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.