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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 39.9083, -91.2506

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (77th percentile) and lowest in summer (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 59th, summer 90th, fall 40th)
  • Illinois: 30th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 28th, fall 77th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 43rd percentile (spring 50th, summer 45th, fall 76th)

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
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 720 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 274 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,016 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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; white
  • 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.