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 41.5358, -88.3813

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in spring (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 21st, summer 98th, fall 13th)
  • Illinois: 80th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 78th, fall 35th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 56th, summer 65th, fall 49th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 12,603 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 13,800 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 134 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 823 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi W, 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.