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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 42.4788, -88.0657

Estimated forage here is better than about 8% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 67th, summer 80th, fall 73rd)
  • Illinois: 8th percentile (spring 81st, summer 11th, fall 97th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 23rd percentile (spring 87th, summer 15th, fall 57th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra 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, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.