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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 42.1765, -84.6457

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in fall (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi E). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 69th, summer 87th, fall 61st)
  • Michigan: 83rd percentile (spring 66th, summer 78th, fall 62nd)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 61st percentile (spring 76th, summer 48th, fall 56th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,633 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 157 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 898 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 504 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 773 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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