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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 33.0687, -80.9542

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in fall (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 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: 60th percentile (spring 77th, summer 38th, fall 8th)
  • South Carolina: 55th percentile (spring 36th, summer 78th, fall 28th)
  • Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain: 32nd percentile (spring 40th, summer 43rd, fall 14th)

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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Cotton, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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), 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); Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.