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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 43.1839, -83.3255

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 71st percentile (spring 69th, summer 74th, fall 68th)
  • Michigan: 51st percentile (spring 66th, summer 56th, fall 75th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 10th percentile (spring 76th, summer 12th, fall 71st)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 336 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 627 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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