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 39.7153, -90.4176

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (67th percentile) and lowest in fall (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 25th, summer 97th, fall 12th)
  • Illinois: 63rd percentile (spring 37th, summer 67th, fall 33rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 78th percentile (spring 10th, summer 85th, fall 20th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 16 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,420 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,053 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 2,807 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 562 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,205 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 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, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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, Dandelion; extra 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.