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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 42.0533, -88.5688

Estimated forage here is better than about 48% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 35th, summer 95th, fall 37th)
  • Illinois: 48th percentile (spring 46th, summer 51st, fall 73rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 38th percentile (spring 70th, summer 34th, fall 75th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,781 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 13,680 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,702 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 210 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 102 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 32 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.