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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 40.8291, -87.5845

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in Illinois. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Illinois sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.1 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.35 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 39th, summer 96th, fall 22nd)
  • Illinois: 64th percentile (spring 51st, summer 59th, fall 53rd)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 52nd percentile (spring 73rd, summer 44th, fall 64th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 8,344 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 9,554 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,849 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,661 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,639 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

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
  • 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, Dandelion, 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.