Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 38.9760, -90.4248

Estimated forage here is better than about 3% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 78th, summer 62nd, fall 47th)
  • Illinois: 3rd percentile (spring 90th, summer 3rd, fall 84th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 5th percentile (spring 78th, summer 8th, fall 86th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 190 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,254 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,215 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 146 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,881 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,616 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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.