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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 37.6194, -88.8389

Estimated forage here is better than about 16% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (100th percentile) and lowest in summer (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi SW, 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: 83rd percentile (spring 97th, summer 63rd, fall 42nd)
  • Illinois: 16th percentile (spring 100th, summer 3rd, fall 80th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 26th percentile (spring 100th, summer 8th, fall 80th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; 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.