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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 38.1014, -88.3387

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in fall (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.23 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 69th, summer 95th, fall 17th)
  • Illinois: 97th percentile (spring 84th, summer 57th, fall 45th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 97th percentile (spring 66th, summer 77th, fall 33rd)

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 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 12,484 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5,881 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 432 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,735 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 587 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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