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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.

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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 44.6368, -86.2315

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring and fall (68th percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 1.0 mi SE); pears (nearest 3.3 mi SE); corn (nearest 3.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.35 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 70th, summer 69th, fall 64th)
  • Michigan: 39th percentile (spring 68th, summer 40th, fall 68th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 22nd percentile (spring 86th, summer 17th, fall 24th)

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: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms early May – late May

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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.
  • 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.