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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 36.1801, -77.6682

Estimated forage here is better than about 91% of sites in North Carolina. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other North Carolina sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.28 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 94th, summer 75th, fall 41st)
  • North Carolina: 91st percentile (spring 80th, summer 88th, fall 82nd)
  • Southeastern Plains: 95th percentile (spring 90th, summer 94th, fall 94th)

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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 730 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 191 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 484 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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): Cotton, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Soybeans, 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.

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.