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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 43.0335, -82.6122

Estimated forage here is better than about 46% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (57th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.15 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 69th percentile (spring 66th, summer 75th, fall 67th)
  • Michigan: 46th percentile (spring 57th, summer 57th, fall 73rd)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 7th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 11th, fall 57th)

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 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 824 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 414 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.