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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 40.3133, -89.1695

Estimated forage here is better than about 80% of sites in Illinois. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Illinois sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 46th, summer 97th, fall 25th)
  • Illinois: 80th percentile (spring 59th, summer 65th, fall 58th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 79th, summer 48th, fall 68th)

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 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,784 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 5,871 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,975 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 864 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 5,999 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 829 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, 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.