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 39.0698, -89.8565

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (32nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.6 mi W). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.31 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 66th, summer 91st, fall 39th)
  • Illinois: 43rd percentile (spring 80th, summer 32nd, fall 76th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 59th percentile (spring 60th, summer 51st, fall 75th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,771 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 8,482 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,001 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 87 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing 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.