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 40.9587, -90.1305

Estimated forage here is better than about 2% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.9 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi SE). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 62nd percentile (spring 67th, summer 69th, fall 55th)
  • Illinois: 2nd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 4th, fall 90th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 4th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 12th, fall 96th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 390 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 116 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.