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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 42.4499, -87.9248

Estimated forage here is better than about 12% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 71st, summer 82nd, fall 74th)
  • Illinois: 12th percentile (spring 85th, summer 12th, fall 97th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 10th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 9th, fall 96th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 154 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 800 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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