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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 39.4581, -89.4062

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in Illinois. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Illinois sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 46th, summer 95th, fall 22nd)
  • Illinois: 64th percentile (spring 60th, summer 56th, fall 53rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 53rd percentile (spring 79th, summer 39th, fall 64th)

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 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,088 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 8,655 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,799 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 218 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5,129 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; 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.