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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 33.8490, -81.6098

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (84th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: peaches (right here); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.22 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 74th percentile (spring 88th, summer 43rd, fall 8th)
  • South Carolina: 76th percentile (spring 66th, summer 84th, fall 29th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 80th percentile (spring 79th, summer 74th, fall 41st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 31 — Peaches, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jul 15 — Cotton, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Peaches: about 424 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Peaches: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Peaches: about 239 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Apr – early Jul
  • Peaches: about 48 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Feb – early Mar
  • Cotton: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Peaches; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), 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, Cotton, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Peaches: insecticides used on about 86% of surveyed US acres (2025); 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.