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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 42.4766, -90.5445

Estimated forage here is better than about 12% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.1 mi NW, 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: 81st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 85th, fall 60th)
  • Illinois: 12th percentile (spring 78th, summer 16th, fall 93rd)
  • Driftless Area: 66th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 53rd, fall 23rd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 31 — Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 418 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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