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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 39.2947, -90.4061

Estimated forage here is better than about 62% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.14 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 67th, summer 92nd, fall 39th)
  • Illinois: 62nd percentile (spring 81st, summer 40th, fall 76th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 76th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 61st, 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 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,196 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 8,391 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 208 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,733 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 177 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 107 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

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; 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.