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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 42.1413, -89.4937

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (44th). 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 1.0 mi S). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 93rd, fall 36th)
  • Illinois: 42nd percentile (spring 54th, summer 44th, fall 72nd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 33rd percentile (spring 75th, summer 28th, 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,304 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8,576 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,329 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,987 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 112 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 213 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early 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); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.