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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 40.3927, -91.3611

Estimated forage here is better than about 2% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.0 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 56th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 67th, fall 50th)
  • Illinois: 2nd percentile (spring 78th, summer 4th, fall 87th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 2nd percentile (spring 57th, summer 10th, fall 90th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 3,764 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,996 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,157 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 620 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; 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, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.