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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 40.8452, -89.6756

Estimated forage here is better than about 38% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (84th percentile) and lowest in summer (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 67th, summer 90th, fall 46th)
  • Illinois: 38th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 27th, fall 84th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 30th percentile (spring 91st, summer 17th, fall 80th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,992 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,840 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 6,533 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 407 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 1,346 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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