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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 39.8180, -89.6183

Estimated forage here is better than about 9% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in summer (7th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.39 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 84th, summer 76th, fall 64th)
  • Illinois: 9th percentile (spring 94th, summer 7th, fall 95th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 7th percentile (spring 98th, summer 5th, fall 91st)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Aug 16 to Sep 15 — Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 284 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 97 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 344 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 27 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): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Soybeans; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 95% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.