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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 38.3190, -89.7285

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 38th, summer 99th, fall 6th)
  • Illinois: 100th percentile (spring 49th, summer 89th, fall 20th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 99th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 98th, fall 9th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5,757 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,358 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,097 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 503 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,825 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,148 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 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; 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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.