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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 43.7035, -84.9771

Estimated forage here is better than about 59% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 81st, summer 73rd, fall 56th)
  • Michigan: 59th percentile (spring 91st, summer 53rd, fall 56th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 92nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 83rd, fall 78th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 238 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 616 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,488 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,427 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 317 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.