Honey bee forage in Alba, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Alba?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 (alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering shrubs)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Alba, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 23.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Cherries: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early May – late May
• Sorghum: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Alba

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Laurentian-Acadian Sub-boreal Aspen-Birch Forest; Eastern Cool Temperate Pasture and Hayland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.28 mi SE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 1.52 mi W.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% 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.

How Alba ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 78% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Lakes of the North 5 mi · Mancelona 7 mi · Bellaire 11 mi · Boyne Falls 13 mi · East Jordan 14 mi · Gaylord 14 mi

All towns in Michigan · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Alba (44.9786, -84.9695); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.