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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 40.3398, -88.7621

Estimated forage here is better than about 66% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (43rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 64th, summer 93rd, fall 49th)
  • Illinois: 66th percentile (spring 79th, summer 43rd, fall 86th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 54th percentile (spring 90th, summer 28th, fall 82nd)

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: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,479 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 7,986 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 4,012 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,433 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 160 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, 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, Clovers: white, alsike and red; white
  • 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, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 53% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.