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 34.1149, -80.5872
Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 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: 68th percentile (spring 86th, summer 49th, fall 12th)
- South Carolina: 66th percentile (spring 60th, summer 88th, fall 42nd)
- Southeastern Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 74th, summer 77th, fall 52nd)
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)
- Main flow: Apr 16 to Jun 30 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs
- Season ends: Aug 15
Bee crops nearby
- Corn: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early May – early Jun
- Corn: about 387 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early May – early Jun
- Corn: about 172 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun
- Corn: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jun
- Sunflower: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jun
- Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Apr – early Jul
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Soybeans; extra light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
- Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Cotton; 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.