Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 43.3271, -83.0801

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.6 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.43 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 58th, summer 90th, fall 96th)
  • Michigan: 96th percentile (spring 40th, summer 86th, fall 97th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 58th percentile (spring 76th, summer 41st, fall 88th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,945 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 3,250 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,181 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 551 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,093 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dry Beans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Dry Beans; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cucumbers: insecticides used on about 36% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

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.