Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 41.1758, -88.2816

Estimated forage here is better than about 56% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (69th percentile) and lowest in spring (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.27 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 33rd, summer 96th, fall 34th)
  • Illinois: 56th percentile (spring 44th, summer 58th, fall 69th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 46th percentile (spring 68th, summer 42nd, fall 73rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 7,263 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7,857 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,310 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,377 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 300 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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