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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 38.6129, -89.1193

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (56th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 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: 98th percentile (spring 66th, summer 95th, fall 27th)
  • Illinois: 92nd percentile (spring 80th, summer 56th, fall 62nd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 95th percentile (spring 61st, summer 76th, fall 57th)

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 4,717 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6,169 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,552 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3,081 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,039 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 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, 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

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.