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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 44.5209, -89.5452

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in summer (50th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.8 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.7 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 2.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi E. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 71st, summer 78th, fall 88th)
  • Wisconsin: 70th percentile (spring 80th, summer 50th, fall 96th)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 60th percentile (spring 87th, summer 37th, fall 82nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 598 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Dry beans: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Sep
  • Corn: about 402 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Sunflower: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Dry beans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 81% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.