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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 37.7368, -88.3421

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 88th, summer 91st, fall 23rd)
  • Illinois: 81st percentile (spring 97th, summer 33rd, fall 55th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 90th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 53rd, fall 47th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,696 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 4,433 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,072 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 245 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 2,068 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 599 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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