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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 33.4849, -80.4896

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in spring (94th percentile) and lowest in fall (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 3 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: 83rd percentile (spring 96th, summer 45th, fall 16th)
  • South Carolina: 94th percentile (spring 94th, summer 86th, fall 53rd)
  • Southeastern Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 96th, summer 75th, fall 64th)

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 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 170 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early May – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.