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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 42.7217, -88.0008

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (2nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 21st, summer 93rd, fall 66th)
  • Wisconsin: 98th percentile (spring 2nd, summer 98th, fall 58th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 27th percentile (spring 56th, summer 28th, fall 92nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,821 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 2,135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,287 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 205 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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