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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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 41.1315, -87.9642

Estimated forage here is better than about 41% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.26 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 48th, summer 92nd, fall 44th)
  • Illinois: 41st percentile (spring 61st, summer 39th, fall 82nd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 32nd percentile (spring 79th, summer 25th, fall 79th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,927 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 370 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 258 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,831 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,440 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 302 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.