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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 40.8644, -90.9560

Estimated forage here is better than about 18% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 2 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: 84th percentile (spring 61st, summer 88th, fall 42nd)
  • Illinois: 18th percentile (spring 75th, summer 20th, fall 80th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 29th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 36th, fall 79th)

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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 5,183 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,134 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 382 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 164 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 396 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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

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.