Honey bee forage in Post Lake, Wisconsin

When is the honey flow in Post Lake?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), summer-flowering shrubs)
• Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 (summer-flowering shrubs, dry Beans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Post Lake, 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 24.

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, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Fall honey (September to November): dry Beans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering shrubs, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, 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

• Dry beans: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jul – late Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Clover and wildflowers: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Oct (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Peas: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul (grown 1 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 Post Lake

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

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.05 mi SW; pond, lake or river 0.13 mi NW.

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 Post Lake ranks

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

About 74% 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

Elcho 5 mi · Summit Lake 6 mi · Mole Lake 7 mi · Crandon 13 mi · Argonne 19 mi · Antigo 20 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 Post Lake (45.4305, -89.0903); 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.