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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 38.1784, -88.3538

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (69th percentile) and lowest in fall (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); popcorn and ornamental corn (nearest 2.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 56th, summer 97th, fall 14th)
  • Illinois: 95th percentile (spring 69th, summer 66th, fall 37th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 96th percentile (spring 45th, summer 85th, fall 23rd)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 11,201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9,922 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 834 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,759 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 62 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug

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): 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; 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.