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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 35.8726, -80.3861

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (69th percentile) and lowest in spring (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 78th, summer 59th, fall 18th)
  • North Carolina: 42nd percentile (spring 20th, summer 69th, fall 54th)
  • Piedmont: 68th percentile (spring 39th, summer 90th, fall 80th)

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
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 518 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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