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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 43.8023, -90.7820

Estimated forage here is better than about 45% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (70th percentile) and lowest in summer (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi S); soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 65th, summer 76th, fall 70th)
  • Wisconsin: 45th percentile (spring 68th, summer 45th, fall 70th)
  • Driftless Area: 23rd percentile (spring 87th, summer 16th, fall 79th)

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 16 to Aug 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion, 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.