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.

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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 43.7272, -83.2649

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: dry beans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.25 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 13th, summer 91st, fall 100th)
  • Michigan: 93rd percentile (spring 3rd, summer 87th, fall 100th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 52nd percentile (spring 20th, summer 44th, fall 100th)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 16 to Sep 15 — Dry Beans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Dry beans: about 7,460 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 259 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 383 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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