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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 40.8092, -91.0856

Estimated forage here is better than about 4% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 60th, summer 78th, fall 50th)
  • Illinois: 4th percentile (spring 74th, summer 9th, fall 87th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 6th percentile (spring 52nd, summer 18th, fall 92nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 3,901 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 119 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,160 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 238 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 149 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) 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.