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 46.5379, -88.5456
Estimated forage here is better than about 34% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (63rd percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.
Ranking
- Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 68th, summer 71st, fall 38th)
- Michigan: 34th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 44th, fall 32nd)
- Northern Lakes and Forests: 58th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 73rd, fall 55th)
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)
- Season ends: Sep 30
Bee crops nearby
- Alfalfa: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Sep
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Spring-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
- Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
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.