Honey bee forage in Breedsville, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Breedsville?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: May 1 to May 31, peaking early May (blueberries, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jul 31 (soybeans, summer-flowering shrubs, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Breedsville, 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 10.

What the honey is made of

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

• Blueberries: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Apr – late May
• Apples: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early May – late May
• Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 2 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 Breedsville

Mostly: Blueberries; North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest; North-Central Interior and Appalachian Rich Swamp.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.11 mi NE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.21 mi N.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Blueberries: insecticides used on about 74% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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 Breedsville ranks

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

About 61% 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

Bangor 4 mi · Bloomingdale 6 mi · Lawrence 9 mi · Gobles 10 mi · South Haven 11 mi · Hartford 11 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 Breedsville (42.3503, -86.0674); 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.