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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 42.4129, -88.1254

Estimated forage here is better than about 3% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (96th percentile) and lowest in summer (5th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 68th, summer 70th, fall 71st)
  • Illinois: 3rd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 5th, fall 96th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 5th percentile (spring 89th, summer 2nd, fall 51st)

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: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.