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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 40.6978, -90.0026

Estimated forage here is better than about 46% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.15 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 69th, summer 90th, fall 52nd)
  • Illinois: 46th percentile (spring 84th, summer 30th, fall 89th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 62nd percentile (spring 66th, summer 49th, fall 94th)

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 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,213 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 8,324 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 426 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,338 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 537 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.