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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 34.7968, -81.4651

Estimated forage here is better than about 31% of sites in South Carolina. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other South Carolina sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 2.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi NE. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 47th percentile (spring 80th, summer 22nd, fall 15th)
  • South Carolina: 31st percentile (spring 42nd, summer 44th, fall 50th)
  • Piedmont: 36th percentile (spring 44th, summer 29th, fall 70th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Cotton: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.