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 41.8969, -87.9430
Estimated forage here is better than about 8% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (7th). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 80th, summer 75th, fall 81st)
- Illinois: 8th percentile (spring 91st, summer 7th, fall 99th)
- Central Corn Belt Plains: 7th percentile (spring 96th, summer 4th, fall 98th)
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: Apr 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
- Fall flow: Aug 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, Black locust; 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; extra light amber
- Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
Things to watch
- Heavily developed. About 99% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
- 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.