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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 45.1663, -85.2416

Estimated forage here is better than about 53% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (59th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi E); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 69th, summer 76th, fall 67th)
  • Michigan: 53rd percentile (spring 66th, summer 59th, fall 73rd)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 36th percentile (spring 84th, summer 30th, fall 30th)

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 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 148 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jul – 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, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.