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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 43.5917, -88.0487

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (81st percentile) and lowest in spring (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 85th, fall 75th)
  • Wisconsin: 70th percentile (spring 40th, summer 70th, fall 81st)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 29th percentile (spring 65th, summer 32nd, fall 64th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 225 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 223 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 162 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

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