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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 43.6838, -88.5472

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in summer (93rd percentile) and lowest in spring (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 4 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: 89th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 91st, fall 73rd)
  • Wisconsin: 98th percentile (spring 41st, summer 93rd, fall 76th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 94th percentile (spring 66th, summer 77th, fall 57th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 640 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 1,250 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 376 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,397 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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