Honey bee forage in Copemish, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Copemish?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jun 30, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 (summer-flowering shrubs, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Copemish, 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 18.

What the honey is made of

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

• Corn: about 61 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Dry beans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep (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 Copemish

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp; Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Northeastern North American Temperate Forest Plantation.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.22 mi SW; pond, lake or river 0.24 mi SW.

How Copemish ranks

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

About 81% 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

Thompsonville 3 mi · Nessen City 4 mi · Crystal Mountain 5 mi · Kaleva 9 mi · Bendon 11 mi · Mesick 12 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 Copemish (44.4817, -85.9252); 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.