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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Forage on the map in —

National map

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 40.3059, -87.7028

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in fall (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.5 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.2 mi W.

Ranking

Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 26th, summer 99th, fall 8th)
Illinois: 98th percentile (spring 38th, summer 91st, fall 24th)
Central Corn Belt Plains: 99th percentile (spring 61st, summer 84th, fall 37th)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

Soybeans: about 13,822 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
Corn: about 12,530 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Corn: about 993 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Corn: about 1,668 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
Sunflower: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug
Sunflower: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms late Jun – early Aug

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.