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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 43.4064, -85.0375

Estimated forage here is better than about 41% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (72nd percentile) and lowest in spring (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.13 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 55th, summer 78th, fall 66th)
  • Michigan: 41st percentile (spring 33rd, summer 63rd, fall 72nd)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 69th percentile (spring 24th, summer 95th, fall 89th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 576 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep

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, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Soybeans; 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.