Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 44.7276, -85.8463

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (83rd percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); cherries (nearest 0.4 mi NW); corn (nearest 1.7 mi NW). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 77th, summer 65th, fall 57th)
  • Michigan: 39th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 29th, fall 57th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 22nd percentile (spring 92nd, summer 12th, fall 14th)

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 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Cherries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Cherries: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Cherries: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Alfalfa: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

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.