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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 40.4152, -91.1276

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (85th percentile) and lowest in summer (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.29 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 65th, summer 91st, fall 48th)
  • Illinois: 50th percentile (spring 80th, summer 35th, fall 85th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 66th percentile (spring 60th, summer 55th, fall 88th)

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 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,137 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,725 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3,182 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4,084 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 945 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 2,906 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, 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, Garden flowers, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • 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 56% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.