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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 39.9102, -88.2757

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (80th percentile) and lowest in fall (47th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); peas (nearest 3.1 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.16 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 39th, summer 99th, fall 18th)
  • Illinois: 97th percentile (spring 50th, summer 80th, fall 47th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 98th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 68th, fall 60th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 7,677 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6,784 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,845 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 7,368 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 7,238 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,761 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; 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.