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 43.5658, -83.5146

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (8th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 30th, summer 94th, fall 96th)
  • Michigan: 97th percentile (spring 8th, summer 96th, fall 97th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 63rd percentile (spring 42nd, summer 58th, fall 89th)

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, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,785 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 355 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 800 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Dry beans: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.