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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 43.7848, -84.6594

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (94th percentile) and lowest in fall (67th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.2 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 84th, summer 82nd, fall 63rd)
  • Michigan: 80th percentile (spring 94th, summer 69th, fall 67th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 32nd percentile (spring 97th, summer 19th, fall 52nd)

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 1 to Aug 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,476 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 427 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 220 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Dry Beans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cucumbers: insecticides used on about 36% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.