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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 38.0094, -89.6627

Estimated forage here is better than about 57% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.33 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 90th, fall 36th)
  • Illinois: 57th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 29th, fall 72nd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 72nd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 47th, fall 69th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,734 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 847 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 841 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 183 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,098 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SW, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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