Honey bee forage in Crystal Mountain, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Crystal Mountain?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Crystal Mountain, 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), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, 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, summer-flowering shrubs, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), garden flowers; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Cherries: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi W, blooms late Apr – late May
• Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep (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 Crystal Mountain

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Northeastern North American Temperate Forest Plantation; Laurentian-Acadian Sub-boreal Aspen-Birch Forest.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.65 mi S; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.86 mi W.

How Crystal Mountain ranks

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

About 69% 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 · Copemish 5 mi · Nessen City 6 mi · Benzonia 8 mi · Beulah 9 mi · Honor 10 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 Crystal Mountain (44.5243, -86.0022); 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.