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 39.5060, -89.7723

Estimated forage here is better than about 71% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (78th percentile) and lowest in summer (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.15 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 64th, summer 94th, fall 37th)
  • Illinois: 71st percentile (spring 78th, summer 48th, fall 73rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 61st percentile (spring 90th, summer 31st, 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 13,857 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 7,584 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 8,116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, 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, Garden flowers
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 51% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.