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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.

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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 41.1644, -87.8459

Estimated forage here is better than about 12% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 62nd, summer 85th, fall 63rd)
  • Illinois: 12th percentile (spring 77th, summer 16th, fall 94th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 9th percentile (spring 89th, summer 11th, fall 90th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,799 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,941 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 291 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,269 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 84% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.

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.