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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 42.8045, -83.0045

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in spring (74th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.39 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 86th, fall 78th)
  • Michigan: 83rd percentile (spring 74th, summer 76th, fall 88th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 37th percentile (spring 89th, summer 25th, fall 73rd)

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 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 133 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 816 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 724 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 65% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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.

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.