Honey bee forage in Summit Lake, Wisconsin

When is the honey flow in Summit Lake?

• First forage: Mar 16 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15, peaking late May (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Season ends: Oct 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Summit 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 25.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), 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): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): early trees (maple, willow, poplar), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; 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 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms late Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Sep (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 Summit 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: pond, lake or river 0 mi S; open water 0 mi S.

How Summit 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 4 mi · Post Lake 6 mi · Mole Lake 13 mi · Antigo 16 mi · Crandon 20 mi · Rhinelander 21 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 Summit Lake (45.377, -89.199); 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.