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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 39.5394, -91.0133

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (67th percentile) and lowest in summer (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 51st, summer 90th, fall 31st)
  • Illinois: 25th percentile (spring 64th, summer 29th, fall 67th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 38th percentile (spring 39th, summer 47th, fall 63rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,557 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 9,061 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 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, Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • 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, Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.