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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 38.5208, -88.5358

Estimated forage here is better than about 74% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (64th percentile) and lowest in fall (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.11 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 96th, fall 17th)
  • Illinois: 74th percentile (spring 56th, summer 64th, fall 45th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 87th percentile (spring 29th, summer 83rd, fall 34th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 9,499 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4,905 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 37 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, 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

  • 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.