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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 42.3716, -85.4595

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (76th percentile) and lowest in fall (64th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NW); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.3 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 69th, summer 86th, fall 62nd)
  • Michigan: 78th percentile (spring 66th, summer 76th, fall 64th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 51st percentile (spring 76th, summer 43rd, fall 58th)

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 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,684 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 328 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 407 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Alfalfa; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Apples: insecticides used on about 77% of surveyed US acres (2025). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.