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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 40.4951, -90.5650

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Illinois. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Illinois sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.4 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 46th, summer 96th, fall 25th)
  • Illinois: 75th percentile (spring 58th, summer 62nd, fall 59th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 87th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 81st, fall 53rd)

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 13,919 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 15,201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 102 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.