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 42.8109, -84.7918

Estimated forage here is better than about 90% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (87th percentile) and lowest in spring (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 55th, summer 91st, fall 59th)
  • Michigan: 90th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 87th, fall 60th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 79th percentile (spring 46th, summer 70th, fall 53rd)

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

  • Soybeans: about 503 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 258 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,150 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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