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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.

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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 38.0803, -90.0977

Estimated forage here is better than about 58% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (83rd percentile) and lowest in summer (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 68th, summer 92nd, fall 30th)
  • Illinois: 58th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 37th, fall 65th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 73rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 57th, fall 61st)

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 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,301 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,477 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,665 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 2,042 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.