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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 42.7717, -88.5808

Estimated forage here is better than about 49% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (60th percentile) and lowest in spring and fall (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 52nd, summer 83rd, fall 58th)
  • Wisconsin: 49th percentile (spring 40th, summer 60th, fall 40th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 9th percentile (spring 65th, summer 22nd, 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)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 7,834 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,546 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 309 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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