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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.

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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 39.7059, -90.5598

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (67th percentile) and lowest in summer (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 54th, summer 91st, fall 27th)
  • Illinois: 36th percentile (spring 67th, summer 34th, fall 63rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 49th percentile (spring 43rd, summer 54th, fall 57th)

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 Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,753 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,520 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,819 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.