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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 43.6595, -83.2431

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.36 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 44th, summer 90th, fall 95th)
  • Michigan: 88th percentile (spring 20th, summer 85th, fall 97th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 44th percentile (spring 61st, summer 40th, fall 87th)

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, Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 533 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 629 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,191 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,709 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 2,754 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 284 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, 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, Dry Beans, Alfalfa; water white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dry Beans, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa; 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.