Honey bee forage in Elderon, Wisconsin

When is the honey flow in Elderon?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31, peaking early Aug (alfalfa, soybeans)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Elderon, 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 20.

What the honey is 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, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, soybeans, summer-flowering shrubs, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); white, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): alfalfa, soybeans, dry Beans, clovers: white, alsike and red; white, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), soybeans; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 360 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Sweet corn: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 4 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 Elderon

Mostly: Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest; Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp; Boreal-Laurentian Conifer Acidic Swamp and Treed Poor Fen.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.16 mi W; pond, lake or river 0.17 mi W.

Things to watch

• 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.

How Elderon ranks

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

About 58% 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

Wittenberg 5 mi · Eland 6 mi · Paac Ciinak 7 mi · Hatley 8 mi · Birnamwood 10 mi · Tigerton 11 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 Elderon (44.7874, -89.2521); 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.