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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.

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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 42.0898, -88.6961

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 67th, summer 90th, fall 59th)
  • Illinois: 42nd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 29th, fall 93rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 34th percentile (spring 91st, summer 18th, 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,317 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 10,133 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,815 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,227 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 61% 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.