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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 36.0592, -76.6009

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, 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. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 77th, fall 20th)
  • North Carolina: 92nd percentile (spring 71st, summer 90th, fall 56th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 85th percentile (spring 84th, summer 76th, fall 51st)

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: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 303 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 182 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.
  • 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.