Honey bee forage in Springfield, South Carolina

When is the honey flow in Springfield?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Springfield, 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 8.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, cotton; 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), garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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): cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; 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

• Cotton: about 230 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Aug (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early May – early Jun (grown 3 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 Springfield

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

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.32 mi SW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.68 mi W.

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 Springfield ranks

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

About 57% 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

Salley 5 mi · Perry 9 mi · Norway 9 mi · Neeses 9 mi · Elko 10 mi · Livingston 10 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 Springfield (33.4967, -81.2795); 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.