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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 38.5126, -88.4379

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (78th percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 95th, fall 21st)
  • Illinois: 89th percentile (spring 78th, summer 57th, fall 52nd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 94th percentile (spring 57th, summer 76th, fall 41st)

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 9,730 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,803 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 603 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 794 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.