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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 35.9572, -80.7738

Estimated forage here is better than about 71% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (81st percentile) and lowest in fall (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); rapeseed (nearest 1.3 mi NE, 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.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 89th, summer 69th, fall 7th)
  • North Carolina: 71st percentile (spring 57th, summer 81st, fall 17th)
  • Piedmont: 89th percentile (spring 74th, summer 97th, fall 38th)

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, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 207 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Rapeseed: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms late Mar – early May
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 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, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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, Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.