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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 43.2576, -84.9305

Estimated forage here is better than about 37% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (68th percentile) and lowest in spring (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 40th, summer 82nd, fall 60th)
  • Michigan: 37th percentile (spring 16th, summer 68th, fall 62nd)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 5th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 30th, fall 55th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 405 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,510 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,179 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.