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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 43.2995, -84.1471

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 85th percentile (spring 81st, summer 83rd, fall 73rd)
  • Michigan: 81st percentile (spring 91st, summer 70th, fall 81st)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 33rd percentile (spring 95th, summer 20th, fall 66th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,897 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,816 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 158 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 112 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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), Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.