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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 35.7034, -80.4240

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (51st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.0 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.0 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.4 mi NW, grown 2 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: 74th percentile (spring 94th, summer 44th, fall 32nd)
  • North Carolina: 64th percentile (spring 84th, summer 51st, fall 72nd)
  • Piedmont: 84th percentile (spring 89th, summer 75th, fall 93rd)

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 1 to May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi NW, blooms late May – late 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 shrubs; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.
  • 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.