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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 45.1587, -88.7658

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 66th, summer 73rd, fall 61st)
  • Wisconsin: 35th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 38th, fall 44th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 68th percentile (spring 48th, summer 83rd, fall 83rd)

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)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 246 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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