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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 44.8792, -85.2717

Estimated forage here is better than about 12% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it ranks highest in spring (45th percentile) and lowest in summer (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cherries (nearest 0.6 mi NE); alfalfa (nearest 1.4 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 3.2 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 40th percentile (spring 61st, summer 51st, fall 45th)
  • Michigan: 12th percentile (spring 45th, summer 9th, fall 40th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 4th percentile (spring 71st, summer 3rd, 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 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cherries: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 266 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi W, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 227 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi W, blooms early May – late May
  • Cherries: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early May – late May

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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.
  • 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.