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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 42.4114, -89.4714

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 38th, summer 94th, fall 38th)
  • Illinois: 42nd percentile (spring 49th, summer 46th, fall 75th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 98th percentile (spring 38th, summer 95th, fall 7th)

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
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 15,068 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,801 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,669 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, 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, Alfalfa; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; 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.