Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 35.8479, -77.0660

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (75th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.2 mi W); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi S, 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. 3 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 95th, summer 69th, fall 35th)
  • North Carolina: 92nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 82nd, fall 75th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 85th percentile (spring 95th, summer 70th, fall 76th)

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 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 187 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans, Garden flowers, Dandelion; 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, Cotton, Soybeans, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 71% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.
  • 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.