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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 36.2022, -76.7642

Estimated forage here is better than about 72% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (7th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 71st, summer 79th, fall 17th)
  • North Carolina: 72nd percentile (spring 7th, summer 94th, fall 49th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 64th percentile (spring 26th, summer 80th, fall 43rd)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 304 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Cotton: about 880 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 111 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, 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 trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; 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.