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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 41.8006, -86.4994

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NW). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 58th, summer 91st, fall 41st)
  • Michigan: 92nd percentile (spring 38th, summer 88th, fall 36th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 83rd percentile (spring 53rd, summer 73rd, fall 23rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,001 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7,027 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 157 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 295 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 502 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.