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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 42.9041, -91.0996

Estimated forage here is better than about 31% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in spring (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 68th, summer 70th, fall 62nd)
  • Wisconsin: 31st percentile (spring 75th, summer 32nd, fall 47th)
  • Driftless Area: 10th percentile (spring 94th, summer 6th, fall 29th)

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
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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