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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 42.0662, -85.1415

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 68th, summer 91st, fall 56th)
  • Michigan: 97th percentile (spring 64th, summer 88th, fall 56th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 94th percentile (spring 74th, summer 73rd, fall 47th)

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,323 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,625 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,552 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,417 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,301 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,064 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.