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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 44.1968, -85.2125

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi NE); dry beans (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 50th, summer 83rd, fall 87th)
  • Michigan: 60th percentile (spring 28th, summer 70th, fall 95th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 93rd percentile (spring 18th, summer 98th, fall 98th)

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: Jul 1 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2,740 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,944 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 632 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 298 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 115 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

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.