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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 44.2247, -85.9690

Estimated forage here is better than about 12% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it ranks highest in spring (49th percentile) and lowest in summer (8th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 3.4 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 3.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 3.6 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 39th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 48th, fall 36th)
  • Michigan: 12th percentile (spring 49th, summer 8th, fall 29th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 23rd percentile (spring 39th, summer 15th, fall 50th)

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 16 to Jun 30 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.