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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 44.7103, -85.8552

Estimated forage here is better than about 37% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 1.3 mi N); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.8 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 81st, summer 61st, fall 45th)
  • Michigan: 37th percentile (spring 91st, summer 20th, fall 41st)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 21st percentile (spring 96th, summer 7th, fall 6th)

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 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Cherries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 157 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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.

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.