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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 43.8561, -83.9617

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in spring (60th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi N. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 67th, summer 86th, fall 96th)
  • Michigan: 86th percentile (spring 60th, summer 77th, fall 97th)
  • Huron/Erie Lake Plains: 42nd percentile (spring 84th, summer 27th, fall 89th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 1 to Sep 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,802 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 648 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Dry beans: about 428 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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