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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 40.9169, -87.7272

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (79th percentile) and lowest in fall (38th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 2.5 mi NE). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.37 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 30th, summer 99th, fall 14th)
  • Illinois: 89th percentile (spring 42nd, summer 79th, fall 38th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 84th percentile (spring 66th, summer 66th, fall 51st)

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
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 13,826 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 16,854 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 101 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, 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): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra 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.