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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 42.9113, -83.5187

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (69th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 76th, summer 82nd, fall 73rd)
  • Michigan: 75th percentile (spring 81st, summer 69th, fall 82nd)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 43rd percentile (spring 88th, summer 30th, fall 81st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 236 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.