Honey bee forage in Bancroft, Wisconsin

When is the honey flow in Bancroft?

• First forage: Apr 1 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31, peaking early Aug (soybeans, dry Beans, alfalfa)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Bancroft, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on May 16.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), peas; light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): soybeans, dry Beans, alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red; water white, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): dry Beans, cucumbers, soybeans, alfalfa; white, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): dry Beans, soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; white, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Sweet corn: about 94 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Dry beans: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 672 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Bancroft

Mostly: Eastern Cool Temperate Pasture and Hayland; Corn; North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.25 mi SW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.63 mi N.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024); Cucumbers: insecticides used on about 36% 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.

How Bancroft ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 34% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Almond 6 mi · Plainfield 6 mi · Plover 11 mi · Hancock 12 mi · Lake Wazeecha 13 mi · Whiting 13 mi

All towns in Wisconsin · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Bancroft (44.3086, -89.5062); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.