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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 42.7627, -85.3162

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (81st percentile) and lowest in spring (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.13 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 56th, summer 88th, fall 58th)
  • Michigan: 78th percentile (spring 35th, summer 81st, fall 58th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 50th percentile (spring 50th, summer 53rd, fall 51st)

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, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,655 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 192 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 376 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 113 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 167 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,386 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.