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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 40.9547, -87.6537

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in summer (67th percentile) and lowest in spring (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.8 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.13 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 34th, summer 97th, fall 17th)
  • Illinois: 70th percentile (spring 44th, summer 67th, fall 45th)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 60th percentile (spring 69th, summer 51st, fall 58th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 10,859 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 16,590 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,302 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.