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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.

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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 44.4886, -89.3019

Estimated forage here is better than about 41% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in spring (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 39th, summer 83rd, fall 76th)
  • Wisconsin: 41st percentile (spring 18th, summer 60th, fall 82nd)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 28th percentile (spring 25th, summer 50th, fall 51st)

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 754 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 130 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 717 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 380 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 218 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 111 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.