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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 44.8206, -83.5552

Estimated forage here is better than about 1% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it ranks highest in fall (26th percentile) and lowest in summer (1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.6 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 2.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 2.0 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.12 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 13th percentile (spring 37th, summer 31st, fall 33rd)
  • Michigan: 1st percentile (spring 13th, summer 1st, fall 26th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 4th percentile (spring 7th, summer 2nd, fall 45th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 153 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.