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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 42.8612, -88.9384

Estimated forage here is better than about 1% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it ranks highest in fall (29th percentile) and lowest in summer (2nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.8 mi S); soybeans (nearest 1.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 15th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 40th, fall 49th)
  • Wisconsin: 1st percentile (spring 10th, summer 2nd, fall 29th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 0th percentile (spring 27th, summer 0th, fall 14th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 353 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 173 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 125 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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