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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 43.4077, -84.4752

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in summer (92nd percentile) and lowest in spring (21st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.39 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 44th, summer 92nd, fall 72nd)
  • Michigan: 94th percentile (spring 21st, summer 92nd, fall 81st)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 87th percentile (spring 30th, summer 78th, fall 79th)

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: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 10,014 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 12,989 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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