Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 47.1270, -88.5079

Estimated forage here is better than about 49% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.3 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 3.1 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.31 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 73rd, fall 57th)
  • Michigan: 49th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 53rd, fall 57th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 78th percentile (spring 65th, summer 83rd, fall 80th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sorghum: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sorghum: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sorghum: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug

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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.