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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 43.6742, -82.7752

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in spring (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 18th, summer 90th, fall 100th)
  • Michigan: 89th percentile (spring 3rd, summer 86th, fall 99th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 46th percentile (spring 26th, summer 42nd, fall 98th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Michigan, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 16 to Sep 15 — Dry Beans, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 616 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 1,402 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 406 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 659 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 145 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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), Alfalfa; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Dry Beans, Alfalfa; water white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dry Beans, Soybeans, Alfalfa; water white
  • Whole season (March to November): Dry Beans, Soybeans, Alfalfa, Dandelion; 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.