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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 37.8892, -88.3090

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, 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: 96th percentile (spring 65th, summer 94th, fall 14th)
  • Illinois: 70th percentile (spring 80th, summer 46th, fall 36th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 84th percentile (spring 60th, summer 67th, fall 22nd)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,211 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,474 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,078 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,491 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 348 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 327 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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