Honey bee forage in Lake Leelanau, Michigan

When is the honey flow in Lake Leelanau?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: May 1 to May 31, peaking early May (cherries, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jul 15 (summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering shrubs)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Lake Leelanau, 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 21.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), cherries, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, clovers: white, alsike and red, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), alfalfa; 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), alfalfa; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), clovers: white, alsike and red, cherries, dandelion; 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 200 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early May – late May

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 Lake Leelanau

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Cherries; Open water.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.18 mi SE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.21 mi N.

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 Lake Leelanau ranks

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

About 54% 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

Suttons Bay 3 mi · Leland 3 mi · Omena 8 mi · Cedar 10 mi · Maple City 11 mi · Northport 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 Lake Leelanau (44.9807, -85.7164); 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.