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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 36.3979, -78.3221

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 81st, fall 10th)
  • North Carolina: 87th percentile (spring 34th, summer 96th, fall 29th)
  • Piedmont: 97th percentile (spring 56th, summer 100th, fall 54th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across North Carolina, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.