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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 42.1024, -88.7619

Estimated forage here is better than about 45% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 62nd, summer 91st, fall 46th)
  • Illinois: 45th percentile (spring 76th, summer 34th, fall 84th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 36th percentile (spring 88th, summer 22nd, fall 80th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,235 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,786 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 5,291 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,588 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,334 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, 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); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.