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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 40.4743, -90.2955

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (73rd percentile) and lowest in summer (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 50th, summer 91st, fall 37th)
  • Illinois: 35th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 35th, fall 73rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 48th percentile (spring 38th, summer 55th, fall 71st)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,770 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,498 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 243 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.