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 42.8717, -83.9107

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.38 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 57th, summer 93rd, fall 60th)
  • Michigan: 98th percentile (spring 36th, summer 94th, fall 60th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 97th percentile (spring 51st, summer 84th, fall 54th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Michigan, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,985 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,570 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 81 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 323 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; 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.