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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 42.6385, -89.9510

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in spring (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.2 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 88th, fall 58th)
  • Wisconsin: 75th percentile (spring 24th, summer 82nd, fall 40th)
  • Driftless Area: 61st percentile (spring 28th, summer 69th, fall 18th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Wisconsin, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Alfalfa, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 2,961 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,284 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 276 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra 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.