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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 38.6045, -89.2915

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (71st percentile) and lowest in fall (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.16 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 38th, summer 97th, fall 12th)
  • Illinois: 80th percentile (spring 49th, summer 71st, fall 32nd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 90th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 88th, fall 19th)

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 6,056 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,519 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 348 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,314 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 344 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi N, 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.