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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 40.5590, -89.7696

Estimated forage here is better than about 18% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.2 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 87th, fall 44th)
  • Illinois: 18th percentile (spring 78th, summer 19th, fall 82nd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 29th percentile (spring 57th, summer 34th, fall 83rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,748 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,706 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 3,050 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 259 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 912 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

  • 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.