Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 38.3827, -87.9092

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.32 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 48th, summer 99th, fall 7th)
  • Illinois: 99th percentile (spring 61st, summer 80th, fall 20th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 99th percentile (spring 35th, summer 94th, fall 9th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 13,093 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 13,763 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi W, 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.