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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 39.8137, -91.1153

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 64th, summer 88th, fall 42nd)
  • Illinois: 25th percentile (spring 79th, summer 22nd, fall 80th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 37th percentile (spring 59th, summer 39th, fall 80th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 411 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,196 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.