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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 37.8366, -89.6919

Estimated forage here is better than about 8% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (7th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.11 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 81st, summer 76th, fall 34th)
  • Illinois: 8th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 7th, fall 69th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 17th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 17th, fall 66th)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 339 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,975 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,848 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 147 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 536 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.