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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 43.2580, -82.8182

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in spring (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 44th, summer 92nd, fall 77th)
  • Michigan: 93rd percentile (spring 20th, summer 91st, fall 86th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 53rd percentile (spring 61st, summer 49th, fall 72nd)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 11,909 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,021 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 674 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 521 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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