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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 36.3507, -77.3052

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 76th, summer 79th, fall 18th)
  • North Carolina: 75th percentile (spring 14th, summer 94th, fall 52nd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 67th percentile (spring 36th, summer 79th, fall 47th)

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 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 162 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 112 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 247 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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