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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.

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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 42.0616, -83.2725

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Michigan. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Michigan sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 71st, summer 87th, fall 66th)
  • Michigan: 85th percentile (spring 70th, summer 79th, fall 72nd)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 39th percentile (spring 88th, summer 28th, fall 57th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,488 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,185 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 234 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.