Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 40.8672, -90.7492

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (67th percentile) and lowest in summer (54th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 4 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: 94th percentile (spring 49th, summer 95th, fall 32nd)
  • Illinois: 64th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 54th, fall 67th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 79th percentile (spring 36th, summer 74th, fall 63rd)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 18,080 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 4,351 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6,711 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 102 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

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