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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 41.7986, -87.8418

Estimated forage here is better than about 0% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (2nd). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.13 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

Continental US: 22nd percentile (spring 44th, summer 43rd, fall 57th)
Illinois: 0th percentile (spring 56th, summer 2nd, fall 92nd)
Central Corn Belt Plains: 0th percentile (spring 77th, summer 0th, fall 86th)

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

Season

First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion
Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 30 — Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
Season ends: Sep 30

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber

Things to watch

Heavily developed. About 81% 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.