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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 40.7129, -89.2776

Estimated forage here is better than about 67% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring and fall (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.17 mi S. 3 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 78th, summer 91st, fall 56th)
  • Illinois: 67th percentile (spring 91st, summer 34th, fall 91st)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 56th percentile (spring 96th, summer 21st, fall 85th)

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 7,756 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 12,805 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5,226 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

  • Heavily developed. About 67% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.