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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 32.8587, -81.2365

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (68th percentile) and lowest in spring (25th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 74th, summer 33rd, fall 12th)
  • South Carolina: 50th percentile (spring 25th, summer 68th, fall 43rd)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 28th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 37th, fall 28th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • 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, Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.
  • 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.