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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 40.0616, -87.6332

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring and fall (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 74th, summer 89th, fall 50th)
  • Illinois: 39th percentile (spring 87th, summer 24th, fall 87th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 54th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 41st, 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,260 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 7,544 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,007 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 145 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.