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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 42.7291, -88.7394

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (84th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 47th, summer 88th, fall 50th)
  • Wisconsin: 79th percentile (spring 31st, summer 84th, fall 30th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 46th percentile (spring 56th, summer 55th, fall 15th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 8,440 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,920 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 265 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,375 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra 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.