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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 35.5381, -82.8635

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (71st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 97th, summer 60th, fall 47th)
  • North Carolina: 84th percentile (spring 97th, summer 71st, fall 93rd)
  • Blue Ridge: 99th percentile (spring 98th, summer 98th, fall 73rd)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi S, 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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.