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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 39.2746, -88.2408

Estimated forage here is better than about 86% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (78th percentile) and lowest in summer (54th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 95th, fall 34th)
  • Illinois: 86th percentile (spring 78th, summer 54th, fall 69th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 93rd percentile (spring 57th, summer 75th, fall 66th)

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 Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,996 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,661 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 337 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,656 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,876 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

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); 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.