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.

Forage on the map in —

National map

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 43.1556, -83.4056

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 81st, fall 67th)
Michigan: 62nd percentile (spring 50th, summer 68th, fall 73rd)
Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 20th percentile (spring 65th, summer 29th, fall 68th)

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: May 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 205 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 199 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
Corn: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, 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); light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Alfalfa; extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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.