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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 39.8214, -91.0262

Estimated forage here is better than about 15% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 69th, summer 85th, fall 51st)
  • Illinois: 15th percentile (spring 84th, summer 16th, fall 88th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 26th percentile (spring 66th, summer 28th, fall 93rd)

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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 208 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 154 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 228 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 818 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 238 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.