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 42.1036, -85.0775

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in spring (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 54th, summer 92nd, fall 51st)
  • Michigan: 94th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 91st, fall 48th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 88th percentile (spring 46th, summer 77th, fall 37th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,815 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,343 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 203 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 442 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 308 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.