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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 38.5972, -89.7482

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (73rd percentile) and lowest in fall (26th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.8 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 98th, fall 9th)
  • Illinois: 89th percentile (spring 55th, summer 73rd, fall 26th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 94th percentile (spring 29th, summer 89th, fall 14th)

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 11,646 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 8,392 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 6,223 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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

  • 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.