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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 43.0048, -84.7415

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (94th percentile) and lowest in spring (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 37th, summer 93rd, fall 53rd)
  • Michigan: 92nd percentile (spring 13th, summer 94th, fall 52nd)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 84th percentile (spring 21st, summer 83rd, fall 42nd)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,105 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,935 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,905 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 654 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 289 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.