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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 34.5356, -83.0764

Estimated forage here is better than about 18% of sites in South Carolina. Against other South Carolina sites it ranks highest in summer (32nd percentile) and lowest in spring (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 2.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.18 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 39th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 19th, fall 8th)
  • South Carolina: 18th percentile (spring 21st, summer 32nd, fall 29th)
  • Piedmont: 21st percentile (spring 18th, summer 20th, fall 44th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.3 mi E, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.
  • 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.