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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 39.4627, -90.6192

Estimated forage here is better than about 14% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (18th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 62nd, summer 87th, fall 41st)
  • Illinois: 14th percentile (spring 76th, summer 18th, fall 79th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 25th percentile (spring 54th, summer 32nd, fall 78th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,995 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 542 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,390 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,170 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 700 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.