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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.

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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 36.1072, -81.1889

Estimated forage here is better than about 27% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in fall (65th percentile) and lowest in summer (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 2.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 2.1 mi N, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 86th, summer 35th, fall 25th)
  • North Carolina: 27th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 35th, fall 65th)
  • Piedmont: 55th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 57th, fall 89th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.