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 42.7078, -89.4373

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (86th percentile) and lowest in fall (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 59th, summer 89th, fall 58th)
  • Wisconsin: 93rd percentile (spring 55th, summer 86th, fall 40th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 79th percentile (spring 77th, summer 59th, fall 26th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 4,369 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,304 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 223 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 753 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 209 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.