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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 40.8175, -89.5702

Estimated forage here is better than about 3% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 68th, summer 74th, fall 49th)
  • Illinois: 3rd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 6th, fall 86th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 6th percentile (spring 64th, summer 15th, fall 90th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 705 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,297 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • 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.