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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 41.2585, -88.1307

Estimated forage here is better than about 18% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 66th, summer 87th, fall 58th)
  • Illinois: 18th percentile (spring 81st, summer 17th, fall 93rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 13th percentile (spring 90th, summer 12th, fall 87th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,926 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,953 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,751 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,074 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,163 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 182 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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