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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.

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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 42.7815, -87.7718

Estimated forage here is better than about 83% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.9 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.9 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 74th, summer 80th, fall 92nd)
  • Wisconsin: 83rd percentile (spring 85th, summer 56th, fall 98th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 12th percentile (spring 94th, summer 8th, fall 100th)

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
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 30 — Garden flowers, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Black locust; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 84% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.