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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 44.1925, -83.9334

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in spring (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 44th, summer 87th, fall 91st)
  • Michigan: 74th percentile (spring 20th, summer 79th, fall 96th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 99th percentile (spring 12th, summer 100th, fall 99th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 439 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 418 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 216 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing 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.