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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 40.6549, -90.1855

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.9 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi NW). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 66th, summer 84th, fall 48th)
  • Illinois: 10th percentile (spring 80th, summer 14th, fall 86th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 19th percentile (spring 61st, summer 26th, fall 89th)

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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,597 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,232 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,226 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3,307 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 490 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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