Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 41.7564, -84.7568

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (79th percentile) and lowest in fall (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 74th, summer 87th, fall 56th)
  • Michigan: 86th percentile (spring 76th, summer 79th, fall 56th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 16th percentile (spring 81st, summer 17th, fall 91st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Michigan, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,742 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 987 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,361 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 102 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

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. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.