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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 38.7650, -88.3593

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 46th, summer 99th, fall 14th)
  • Illinois: 100th percentile (spring 59th, summer 88th, fall 36th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 100th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 98th, fall 22nd)

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 10,018 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,803 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 452 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 873 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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

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.