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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 35.6276, -79.0747

Estimated forage here is better than about 11% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it ranks highest in fall (32nd percentile) and lowest in spring (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 45th percentile (spring 77th, summer 30th, fall 11th)
  • North Carolina: 11th percentile (spring 16th, summer 26th, fall 32nd)
  • Piedmont: 32nd percentile (spring 34th, summer 46th, fall 58th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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