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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 42.4945, -89.7949

Estimated forage here is better than about 13% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 40th, summer 89th, fall 42nd)
  • Illinois: 13th percentile (spring 51st, summer 26th, fall 80th)
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains: 50th percentile (spring 40th, summer 67th, fall 9th)

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, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 13,990 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,666 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 298 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 237 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 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, Soybeans, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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.