Arcadia Bees
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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 43.8455, -82.6566

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 51st, summer 85th, fall 98th)
  • Michigan: 75th percentile (spring 29th, summer 73rd, fall 98th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 25th percentile (spring 69th, summer 23rd, fall 92nd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Sep 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dry Beans, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,351 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 109 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 82 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 50% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.