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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 44.8489, -88.7864

Estimated forage here is better than about 33% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in fall (63rd percentile) and lowest in summer (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 65th percentile (spring 56th, summer 77th, fall 67th)
  • Wisconsin: 33rd percentile (spring 48th, summer 47th, fall 63rd)
  • North Central Hardwood Forests: 23rd percentile (spring 61st, summer 34th, fall 31st)

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
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.