Honey bee forage in Grant, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Grant?

• First forage: Mar 16 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31, peaking late Jul (alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red, soybeans)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Grant, 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 14.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), alfalfa; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, soybeans; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Apples: about 316 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early May – late May
• Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 727 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – early Aug (grown 5 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 Grant

Mostly: Northern & Central Native Ruderal Forest; Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Apples.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.25 mi NW; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.3 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. 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 Grant ranks

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

About 37% 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

Newaygo 6 mi · Casnovia 7 mi · Kent City 8 mi · Fremont 11 mi · Ravenna 12 mi · Sparta 13 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 Grant (43.334, -85.8099); 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.