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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 41.0327, -90.0853

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in fall (71st percentile) and lowest in summer (40th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 39th, summer 93rd, fall 35th)
  • Illinois: 35th percentile (spring 50th, summer 40th, fall 71st)
  • Central Corn Belt Plains: 27th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 26th, fall 75th)

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 4,082 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 5,493 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Aug
  • Sunflower: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 34 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 108 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 133 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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