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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 38.4887, -88.9018

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.11 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 90th percentile (spring 70th, summer 90th, fall 38th)
  • Illinois: 42nd percentile (spring 84th, summer 28th, fall 76th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 58th percentile (spring 67th, summer 46th, fall 74th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,865 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,293 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 152 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 186 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 326 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.