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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 40.3048, -89.6045

Estimated forage here is better than about 91% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (73rd percentile) and lowest in spring (54th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); pumpkins (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 98th, fall 26th)
  • Illinois: 91st percentile (spring 54th, summer 73rd, fall 61st)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 88th percentile (spring 76th, summer 58th, fall 69th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 14,505 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 17,853 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Pumpkins: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Oct
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Popcorn and ornamental corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Pumpkins, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.