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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 38.0899, -88.8508

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (85th percentile) and lowest in fall (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.18 mi S.

Ranking

Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 57th, summer 99th, fall 12th)
Illinois: 100th percentile (spring 71st, summer 85th, fall 34th)
Interior River Valleys and Hills: 100th percentile (spring 47th, summer 97th, fall 20th)

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: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 8,562 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
Corn: about 2,762 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
Corn: about 507 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
Corn: about 198 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
Corn: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
Corn: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
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, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.