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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 35.9068, -77.2764

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (86th percentile) and lowest in spring (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 78th, summer 73rd, fall 10th)
  • North Carolina: 66th percentile (spring 19th, summer 86th, fall 29th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 57th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 73rd, fall 21st)

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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 265 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 293 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 140 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.