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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 40.0086, -90.4303

Estimated forage here is better than about 7% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in summer (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.8 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.8 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.33 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 67th, summer 82nd, fall 51st)
  • Illinois: 7th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 12th, fall 88th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 15th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 22nd, 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, 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

  • Corn: about 4,593 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,666 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 1,596 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,677 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 443 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,950 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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

  • Heavily developed. About 64% 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.