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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 33.8777, -80.6951

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in fall (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.13 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 73rd percentile (spring 91st, summer 43rd, fall 11th)
  • South Carolina: 75th percentile (spring 76th, summer 83rd, fall 39th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 79th percentile (spring 85th, summer 73rd, fall 50th)

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)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Corn: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Cotton: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 49 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): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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). 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.