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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 43.4241, -82.6733

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.18 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 44th, summer 93rd, fall 91st)
  • Michigan: 98th percentile (spring 20th, summer 94th, fall 96th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 64th percentile (spring 61st, summer 55th, fall 85th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,080 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,052 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 334 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,303 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

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.