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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 36.2492, -80.2393

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (67th percentile) and lowest in summer (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi SW); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 91st, summer 47th, fall 21st)
  • North Carolina: 53rd percentile (spring 67th, summer 55th, fall 58th)
  • Piedmont: 76th percentile (spring 80th, summer 79th, fall 84th)

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 Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.