Honey bee forage in South Range, Michigan

When is the honey flow in South Range?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden))
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of South Range, 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 28.

What the honey is made of

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

• Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Peas: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug (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 South Range

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp; Laurentian-Acadian Sub-boreal Aspen-Birch Forest.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.23 mi E; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.31 mi E.

How South Range ranks

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

About 82% 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

Trimountain 1 mi · Painesdale 2 mi · Atlantic Mine 2 mi · Dodgeville 3 mi · Hurontown 4 mi · Houghton 5 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 South Range (47.0703, -88.644); 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.