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.

Forage on the map in —

National map

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 46.4961, -87.5924

Estimated forage here is better than about 37% of sites in Michigan. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Michigan sites. Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.14 mi S.

Ranking

Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 66th, summer 72nd, fall 56th)
Michigan: 37th percentile (spring 58th, summer 49th, fall 56th)
Northern Lakes and Forests: 62nd percentile (spring 48th, summer 78th, fall 78th)

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: May 1 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
Season ends: Oct 15

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 trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; extra light amber
Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

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.