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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 40.9171, -89.5042

Estimated forage here is better than about 11% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (15th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 1.3 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.3 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 81st percentile (spring 64th, summer 85th, fall 56th)
  • Illinois: 11th percentile (spring 79th, summer 15th, fall 91st)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 21st percentile (spring 59th, summer 28th, fall 96th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 4,139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,495 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 58% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024); Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.