Honey bee forage in Gadsden, South Carolina

When is the honey flow in Gadsden?

• First forage: Jan 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion)
• Main flow: Feb 1 to May 31, peaking early Mar (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jun 30 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, soybeans)
• Season ends: Aug 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Gadsden, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Mar 9.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), garden flowers; amber
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jun (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Apr – late Jun (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Gadsden

Mostly: Southeastern Native Ruderal Forest; Southeastern North American Temperate Forest Plantation; Southern Atlantic Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.04 mi N; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.26 mi S.

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.

How Gadsden ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 76% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Eastover 5 mi · Hopkins 6 mi · Capitol View 12 mi · St. Matthews 13 mi · Wedgefield 15 mi · Columbia 16 mi

All towns in South Carolina · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Gadsden (33.8472, -80.7656); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.