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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 40.9842, -89.4590

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (10th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.19 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 79th, summer 80th, fall 44th)
  • Illinois: 10th percentile (spring 91st, summer 10th, fall 83rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 20th percentile (spring 80th, summer 20th, fall 84th)

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)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,664 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 2,733 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 134 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 81 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra 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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.