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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 36.4979, -77.0010

Estimated forage here is better than about 28% of sites in North Carolina. Against other North Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (81st percentile) and lowest in spring (1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (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), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 60th, summer 68th, fall 36th)
  • North Carolina: 28th percentile (spring 1st, summer 81st, fall 76th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 27th percentile (spring 11th, summer 69th, fall 77th)

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), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 31 — Cotton, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 312 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 187 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, 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.