Arcadia Bees
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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 46.5219, -90.5530

Estimated forage here is better than about 23% of sites in Wisconsin. Against other Wisconsin sites it stands out most in spring (73rd percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 2.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); clover and wildflowers (nearest 2.3 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.32 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 58th percentile (spring 67th, summer 68th, fall 36th)
  • Wisconsin: 23rd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 29th, fall 20th)
  • Northern Lakes and Forests: 50th percentile (spring 50th, summer 65th, fall 50th)

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: May 1 to Jul 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Sep
  • Clover and wildflowers: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms late May – late Oct
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.5 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms early Jul – late 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): Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.