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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 38.5486, -89.1283

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.31 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 90th, summer 81st, fall 55th)
  • Illinois: 25th percentile (spring 97th, summer 11th, fall 90th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 37th percentile (spring 94th, summer 21st, fall 96th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,201 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,280 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 180 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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.