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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 41.0281, -89.4429

Estimated forage here is better than about 11% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (10th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 81st, summer 79th, fall 49th)
  • Illinois: 11th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 10th, fall 86th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 21st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 20th, fall 90th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,145 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,389 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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