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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 35.9049, -80.2547

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (63rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 94th, summer 62nd, fall 23rd)
North Carolina: 76th percentile (spring 86th, summer 73rd, fall 63rd)
Piedmont: 92nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 93rd, fall 87th)

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 Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late May – late 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

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.