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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 43.4007, -86.3393

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.9 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 74th, summer 74th, fall 80th)
  • Michigan: 60th percentile (spring 77th, summer 56th, fall 90th)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 18th percentile (spring 85th, summer 12th, fall 91st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 72% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Squash: insecticides used on about 71% 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.