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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.

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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 39.0546, -88.7470

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 76th, summer 92nd, fall 44th)
  • Illinois: 66th percentile (spring 89th, summer 36th, fall 83rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 80th percentile (spring 75th, summer 56th, fall 83rd)

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 Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 7,612 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,628 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 143 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,168 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 176 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 149 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • 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, Garden flowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 52% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.